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Clothes Friends, also in West
Bloomfield.
What made these shops unique?
"Personal service," according to Fay-
Ann Popkin, who spent 10 years
with Ray and Ida. "Good advice,"
claims Passman. "I always told my
customers to buy one bottom and
two tops. I said
people won't
remember the
pants, but they will
remember what
you wear on top."
Popkin recalls,
"We told our cus-
tomers what to
wear with what.
You can't find that
in the department
stores." "Limited
selection," adds
Susan Sovel of West Bloomfield,
another shopper who speaks nostal-
gically of the smaller specialty
shops. "Today's department stores
overwhelm me.
Loyal shoppers were the mainstay
for Ray Epstein. She and her moth-
er, the late Ida Cohen, started Ray
and Ida in Cohen's basement in
northwest Detroit. Problems with
the zoning commission moved them
to Oak Park; they opened a second
store at Applegate Square in
Southfield in 1976. Epstein elabo-
rated on the discount concept when
she held semi-annual 50- and 75-
percent off sales. "Customers would
line up outside the door," she
recalls.
Her other specialty was buying
for every pocketbook. "I had moder-
ate to expensive ensembles, from
$250 to $5,000. I felt a pride in
dressing people."
Still, one by one, the shops began
to close. Some owners faced declin-
ing revenues. Others, like Rosalie
Gold, Ray Epstein, Renee Rochlin
and the late Shirley Klein, confront-
ed significant life changes. Stiliman's
mother died; her husband, Sol,
became gravely ill. After 35 success-
ful years she closed her business to
care for him.
Rochlin and Klein had happily
outfitted stylish women at their
Dickens boutique for 23 years, but
both felt the need to close to care
for their ailing mother. "We also
wanted to spend more time with
our husbands.
Rosalie Gold's closing is happy.
After celebrating a 60th birthday,
she says she began to re-think her
life. Even with a sizable, experienced

sales staff, she usually worked six
days a week. Her sales figures were
respectable; her landlord fair; her
customers devoted; her 17 employ-
ees loyal and dependable. But she
craved more leisure time for golf
and grandchildren; more time for
new interests: computers and
Hebrew.
Gold attributes her
success and
longevity to adapt-
ing to the times.
During the six
buying trips she
made annually to
New York, she
gradually ordered
fewer suits and
—Rosalie Gold
cocktail clothes
and more sports
and weekend wear.
"Tastes have changed," she observes.
"Young people are in jeans and ten-
nis clothes. The workforce is more
casual." Rochlin also noted changes
that led to her closing: "The
women were getting older, and the
clothes were getting shorter."
Gold is far from disillusioned
about the retail business. She leaves
the door open for a return, perhaps
to a smaller shop with fewer respon-
sibilities. "I loved the business," she
exclaims. "My customers became my
friends."
Passman, who closed the Clothes
Pin on West Bloomfield's Boardwalk
in 1989, also has fond memories of
her business. "I still miss it terribly."
She attributes her boutique's decline
to less demand for discounts and
more competition from prestige
department stores such as Nieman
Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. A
resident of Windsor, Passman still
chooses to work part-time, commut-
ing to downtown Detroit. Her sis-
ter, Ada, now living in Scottsdale,
works part-time at the Gap.
However, Gary Alpert, who oper-
ated the popular Sylvia's with his
late mother, Sylvia Alpert, is less apt
to return to retailing. "We had a
good run," he says, recalling 25
good years before the investment
became greater than the return.
Alpert found that the early '90s
brought frustrations. "Larger stores
had shipping priorities, and the
quality of merchandise changed.
Some lines wouldn't discount." Sales
dwindled. "People don't get dressed
like they used to. A lot of our cus-
tomers died, and many moved to
Florida. A whole generation has
gone."

"My customers
became my
friends."

) 5

5 )

Like Gold, Epstein burned out
from overloading responsibilities.
"Nobody knows the nights you're
thinking about what to put on sale
or what dress didn't come in for a
wedding. I was in New York every
six weeks. I shopped 45 manufactur-
ers to find the best price, the most
unique fashions. New York wore me
out.
Marketing consultant Fred Marx's
overview of the changing retail
scene includes the reminder that
privately-owned shops such as B.
Siegel, Kay Baum, the RB Shops
and Himelhoch's are long gone, and
so are now the discount specialty
shops. "Clothes were an expression
at one time," he says. "That expres-
sion today is found in homes or
travel or trips to the spa. You can
wear a T-shirt from the Gap with a
Prada handbag. There is more inter-
est in cappuccino than clothes."
Are there opportunities for
wannabe boutique owners? Frances
Berger, Ray and Ida's chic former
manager, is pessimistic. She believes
that discount is dead because
department stores routinely mark
down their merchandise within
weeks of its arrival. Alpert says yes if
the person has good management
skills and can commit substantial
time and effort.
Gold is less certain that wannabes
are out there. "I started at age 39,"
she points out: "My children were
grown. Today's 39-year-olds are just
starting their families. They're dri-
ving car pools and working out.
When we were that age, we didn't
know about boxercise, spinning, and
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