January 31 • 2019 29
jn

retail
arts&life

Proud as 
a Peacock

Rachel Lutz helps return 
retail elegance 
to the city of Detroit.

LAUREN HOFFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
T

he story of the Peacock Room is the story of 
drop ceilings. Or rather, the story of finding 
what’
s underneath them. “You don’
t get the 
real richness of Detroit without really peeling back 
the layers,
” says Rachel Lutz, founder and proprietor.
The first drop ceiling was in 2010 in the Park 
Shelton, where the then-building manager (com-
munity member Jay Bassin) showed Lutz the last 
available retail space in a sign-less, lobby-entry-only 
room. After losing her luxury retail job in the reces-
sion, Lutz had been re-selling vintage and estate sale 
finds at pop-ups around town but knew she was in it 
for a brick-and-mortar. 
She was driven by two realizations: First, that 
there was a gap in the market. She and other Detroit 
residents had to leave city limits to shop for apparel, 
an experience familiar in a city long underserved by 
national and local retailers that disinvested during 
decades of the city’
s decline. Second, the kind of sus-
taining human connection shared while shopping in 
boutiques is not replicable online.
The ability to thoughtfully buy for customers of all 
body types and to show genuine warmth, openness 
for conversation and styling prowess is a unique 
experience only a brick-and-mortar business offers. 
That day in the Park Shelton, Lutz figured she 
would find a way to offer that experience in the 
cramped shop space. And then, hidden under the 
low drop ceiling for so long no one could remember, 
they found high ceilings with original plasterwork 
from the building’
s historic dining room. 
Lutz reworked the brand entirely, shaping it to 
match the remnants of gilded age history dotted 
across Detroit’
s cityscape like a treasure map — so 
rarely appreciated for how precious a local treasure 
our architectural legacy is. 
“These spaces give us a sense of place … The 
space inspired the next direction for the business. 
Out of respect for the architecture,
” Lutz says.
It was then that she embraced the brand’
s current 
identity as a vintage and vintage-inspired dress shop, 
paying homage to an era of women’
s shopping we 

“These spaces give us 

a sense of place. They inspired 

the next direction for the 

business. Out of respect for the 

architecture,” Rachel Lutz says.

It was then that she embraced 

the brand’
s current identity as 

a vintage and vintage-inspired 

dress shop, recalling the 

scenes of B. Altman in 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 

continued on page 30

LAUREN HOFFMAN