Maryland Plaza Comes Back to Life
Think the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. The Plaza Major in Madrid. The Place de Vosges in Paris. Now think Maryland Plaza.
We’re only slightly over-stating. The European feel of the redeveloped Maryland Plaza comes from the courtyard, fountain, outdoor music—and the chance to sit in the sun with a laptop and a latte, surrounded by interesting places to shop, eat and drink. A high-end restaurant—an inventive new model designed by the restaurateurs who created Chicago’s four-star Spiaggia and Bistro 110—will soon occupy the entire first floor of the old Medical Arts building. Negotiations for chic urban boutiques continue, although Koplar Properties is being picky. In the plaza’s old glory days, Saks Fifth Avenue took up an entire building; now, the goal is a select mix of smaller stores that will give everybody—a trend-hungry 22-year-old, a busy architect, a retired poet whose life is his cocker spaniels—reason to be there. Relaxing. Sipping a glass of wine. Running into friends. Shopping well into the evening. Enjoying a public space in a million different ways.
—Cory Schneider
Reaching for Europe
Discerning fans of interior design have been making a beeline for St. Louis’ first Design Within Reach studio, seeking out the clean, classic lines of furniture and accessories influenced by contemporary designers like Mies van der Rohe, Isamu Noguchi and Arch creator Eero Saarinen. Daytime-television watchers have relished filling their homes with the same goods as Oprah’s decorator du jour, Nate Berkus, who stocks his clients’ homes with DWR products. And the uninitiated have come for the modern touches they need to make their homes the envy of their dinner-party guests.
Chris Brennan, the store’s proprietor, fits in the first category, having worked in architecture and design for more than 10 years. He was originally attracted to DWR because customers can buy European furniture in the States without paying for shipping or bothering with customs. When he heard that DWR was thinking of opening a St. Louis location, he called to get in on the action.
“These are beautiful pieces that are extremely well manufactured,” he says, “but they’re also extremely comfortable—which runs contrary to a lot of new design.”
Brennan says that the Central West End (“the true destination of those who know and appreciate good design”) was a good fit for the store. He’s confident that its stylish urbanites will flock to the DWR aesthetic—and where the stylish congregate, those in desperate need of taste will follow.
—Cory Schneider
DWR Studio | 42 Maryland Plaza | 314-361-1701 | www.dwr.com
Enjoy Being at Girl
St. Louisans might drive west to Columbia to party, but we’ve never taken our style cues from a college town—until Emily Bingham opened Girl Boutique.
After graduating from Mizzou with a degree in interior design, Bingham stuck around to work in furniture and home accessories stores, until a friend opened the first Girl Boutique. Bingham went to work there immediately.
After moving to St. Louis a year ago, the Springfield, Mo., native kept in touch with her former employer, and the two discussed opening a second store here.
The warm space, strewn with colorful handbags, shoes and jewelry, offers what Bingham likes to think of as a more personal alternative to department stores. Further differentiating it from the mall are the brands: The store’s two main denim lines are Rio Starr and Live Life and Love Denim. Up-and-comers like Tulle, Yank and Hype are also stocked.
Along with a handful of stores that have opened downtown in recent months, Girl Boutique will, Bingham hopes, “give women an option.” Opening in the CWE was strategic because of its high-style reputation, but Bingham is also trying to play a role in a wider movement: keeping St. Louis in vogue.
—Cory Schneider
Girl Boutique | 26 Maryland Plaza | 314-361-4475
Putting on the Dog
Several years ago, and just for fun, Katina Mims began dressing her Shih Tzu, Zoë, in tiny Ralph Lauren Polo tees and the smallest sizes she could find in Louis Vuitton. She wasn’t alone. When she realized how much fashion had gone to the dogs, she started an online store to sell designer canine clothing. Now she’s opened Couture de Pooch, a boutique on the south side of Maryland Plaza.
Are the clothes more for the image-conscious owner and less for the dogs? A bookie could make a fortune setting odds on pooches’ reactions. Jack, a terrier pup, wriggled happily into a camouflage T-shirt and cavorted around the store. Sophie, a 9-year-old standard poodle, backed out of the boutique; coaxed back in, she grudgingly lifted one paw to put on a Cardinals jersey, her look martyred.
Zoë adores dressing up. Her fave is 4-Carats, a soft baby-blue corduroy doggie gown dazzled up with genuine Swarovski crystals. For cozy nights at home, there are Bedtime Stripey PJs and a hooded bathrobe roomy enough to accommodate the floppiest of ears.
It’d be hard to call PETA and sound convincing.
—Sarah Baicker
Couture de Pooch | 28 S. Maryland Plaza | 314-361-4900 | www.couturedepooch.com
