Boutique

A boutique (French: [butik]) is a retail shop that deals in high end fashionable clothing or accessories.[1] The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (apothēkē) "storehouse".[2][3]

The interior of The Study Club, a boutique in Mendocino, California in the United States.
A Hermès boutique in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
A fashion design boutique by Christian Lacroix

The term boutique and also designer refer (with some differences) to both goods and services,[4] which are containing some element that is claimed to justify an extremely high price.

Etymology and usage

The term boutique entered common English parlance in the late 1960s.

Some multi-outlet businesses (Chain stores) can be referred to as boutiques if they target small, upscale niche markets.[5] Although some boutiques specialize in hand-made items and other unique products, others simply produce T-shirts, stickers, and other fashion accessories in artificially small runs and sell them at high prices.

Lifestyle

In the late 1990s, some European retail traders developed the idea of tailoring a shop towards a lifestyle theme, in what they called "concept stores,"[6] which specialized in cross-selling without using separate departments. One of the first concept stores was 10 Corso Como in Milan, Italy, founded in 1990, followed by Colette[7] in Paris and Quartier 206[8] in Berlin. Several well-known American chains such as Tiffany & Co., Urban Outfitters,[9][10] Dash, and The Gap,[11] Australian chain Billabong and, though less common, Lord & Taylor, adapted to the concept store trend after 2000.

See also
Look up boutique in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References
  1. "boutique". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  2. "boutique". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on May 14, 2020.
  3. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert. "ἀποθήκη". A Greek-English Lexicon. Perseus.
  4. "The first impression matters a lot to clients". Nvuvu.com. 2021-04-05.
  5. "Starting a Boutique Business". Jalingo.co. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  6. "New retailers floor customers". Sydney Morning Herald. April 19, 2004. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  7. Katya Foreman. "Colette Unveils Redesigned Store Interior". WWD.
  8. "Quartier 206". unlike.net. Archived from the original on 2008-10-25.
  9. "Urban Outfitters: Dressed For Success". Forbes. December 20, 2007.
  10. Wernick, Ellen (2003). "Urban Outfitters, Inc". International Directory of Company Histories.
  11. "colette and Gap collaborate on new store (Vogue.co.uk)". Vogue UK. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01.
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