From the Business Desk: Boutique will close when store manager retires

I talked recently with Dan Elkins, owner of the Danielle fashion boutique, who told me he had an "unusual news story" about the upcoming closure of his store on North Kings- highway.

"We're closing, but we're also celebrating," he said.

He went on to tell me when he opened Danielle 15 years ago, he made a pact with store manager Linda Yount that when she retired, the store would close.

One day recently, Linda met with Dan. "She said, 'Dan, I think it's a great time to retire,' and we're thrilled for her," Dan said.

"I'm turning 70 this year and thought, 'It's time to go ... time to retire,'" Linda told me when I stopped by Danielle recently.

Her retirement will bring to a close her 50-year career in women's fashions.

"I started in 1969 at Libson's in downtown Cape where my mother used to buy my clothes when I was in high school," Linda said. "It was a temporary job during the Christmas season."

The manager at Libson's at the time was Virginia "Dolly" Schlue. "She told me this (retail sales) was my calling," Linda said. "She was right."

She stayed with Libson's until it closed, then went to work at Seifert's in what was then the brand-new West Park Mall.

In 1993, she got a call from Dan who was, at the time, managing Hecht's, a well-known women's fashion store on Main Street. "He offered me a full-time position starting the next week, and I've been with Dan 27 years now," Linda said.

When Marty and Tootie Hecht retired and closed Hecht's in 2004, Dan came to Linda and said he was thinking of opening his own store. "But he said he would only open it if I came with him, so 15 years ago we made a pact that we would open together and we would close together," she said.

It was in the summer of 2004, Linda remembers, during a trip to market in Dallas that Dan told her what the name of the new clothing store would be. He explained the first six letters spelled Dan's first name while the last letter, "e" was the first letter of 'Elkins,' his last name. "He said the second 'l' in 'Danielle' was for 'Linda,'" she said and joked if that were the case, it should be capitalized!

Linda told me that over the years, her customers have become "friends and family" and, speaking of families, she has had three generations of some families as customers.

The store is beginning to liquidate its stock and although the exact closing date hasn't been determined, Linda said it will be sometime this spring.

Dan plans to stay in the fashion business, working as a consultant out of New York. Meanwhile, Linda says Danielle's last day will be bittersweet.

"I love my job and it's going to be hard walking out the door the last time," she said.

n

Macy's confirmed last week it plans to close about 125 of its stores over the next three years as part of an overall cost-cutting plan.

According to news reports, Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette told investors last week liquidation sales have already begun at about 30 "underperforming" Macy's outlets located in "low-tier" malls.

Macy's is one of the anchor stores in Cape Girardeau's West Park Mall.

A list published by USA Today contains the locations of 30 Macy's locations targeted for closure this year including the retailer's store at the University Mall in Carbondale, Illinois. No Missouri locations are on the initial list of store closings.

n

The price of romance continues to rise.

I read an interesting article last week that said Americans will set a record for Valentine's Day spending this year, adding an estimated $27.4 billion to the U.S. economy. That's significantly more than the $20.7 billion we spent in 2019 and more than $10 billion more than the $17.3 billion we shelled out in 2014, just six years ago. Those numbers are according to the National Retail Federation.

More than half the U.S. population, about 55%, plans to celebrate Valentine's Day (it's Friday, you know). The NRF says older adults are less likely to celebrate the holiday than younger people, who researchers say are more likely to try to impress potential mates.

This year, the NRF says Americans will spend $196.31 per person and, as usual, men will spend more than women, averaging $291.15 per guy versus $106.22 per gal.

The top five gift categories, and the percentages of people who will buy them and how much they'll spend this year are as follows:

• Candy, 52%, $2.4 billion
• Greeting cards, 43%, $1.3 billion
• Evening out, 34%, $4.3 billion
• Flowers, 37%, $2.3 billion
• Jewelry, 21%, $5.8 billion

(By the way, happy Valentine's Day, Kathy, a few days early!)

n

Demolition on the former O'Charley's and Ruby Tuesday buildings is scheduled to start Tuesday, weather permitting.

n

And finally, a quick follow up to my column last week about the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce's establishment date.

John Mehner, the chamber's president and CEO, checked the chamber's incorporation papers and discovered it was incorporated in 1917, as the "Girardeau Commercial Club" and then voted to change it's name to the "Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce" 100 years ago last week, on Feb. 5, 1920.

The forerunner to the chamber "was actually around several years before incorporating," he said, but he couldn't say when the group first met.

Do you crave business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Check it out at www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.