Sassy sister has some bling in her boutique

Cyndie Grimes COURTESY PHOTO Cyndie Grimes' retail space at Shimmer & Chic is a classic boutique: small, with specialty items that are in limited supply. You won't find the same mass produced, department store dresses or earrings or wraps that hundreds of other ladies might be wearing this year.

"We try to keep things fresh and trendy," Ms. Grimes said. "It's a small store where you can go in and find something that's unique and different.

The jewelry, clothes, purses and miscellaneous gift items — like keychains, handmade picture frames or carry-on food and water bowls for pets — range from classy to kitsch. The prices are moderate, from a few dollars to about $300. The handbag lines, most for under $100, are bestsellers.

"Small, girlfriend gifts," as Ms. Grimes describes her inventory. "But there are a few things for men too."

She opened Shimmer & Chic in November 2006, renting out a corner space in the gallery of The Denny Grimes Building, which sits to the side of Sam's Club Plaza, just off US 41. The building has become a mini-mall of sorts, offering real-estate services, Shimmer & Chic and a coffee shop that serves lunch and often hosts live music.

Ms. Grimes, 48, runs the business with her two sisters: Teri Hansen, 46, owner of Priority Marketing in Fort Myers; and Kathi Graham, 37, who lives in Franklin, N.C. and operates a similar boutique there called Sassy Sisters.

It's the first project the sisters have undertaken together.

"(Opening the boutiques) together was not something five years ago we thought we'd be doing," Ms. Grimes said. "If anything, it probably made us closer. They both have different perspectives, different tastes. They're both very good salesgirls."

The sisters grew up in Fort Myers. Their father bought 60 acres in South Fort Myers and made money selling parcels of the land. But at the time, "people thought he was absolutely crazy," Ms. Grimes said.

She graduated from Cypress Lake High School, where she met her husband, Fort Myers real-estate mogul Denny Grimes. They were married in December 1978.

Now, all three sisters have full-time careers. Ms. Grimes is a nurse practitioner at a plastic surgeon's office when she's not running Shimmer & Chic. She's also up most mornings at 5:30 a.m., teaching an exercise class at Omni Club in South Fort Myers. She likes to go boating, play tennis and hang out with her dogs.

At Shimmer & Chic, Ms. Grimes creates the displays in the store and tends to customers with the help of two employees (including her daughter, Lyndsey Grimes, 26).

She credits Ms. Hansen as being a kind of secret retail weapon: a behindthe scenes operator, accountant and bookkeeper, who also comes up with ideas for advertisements and promotions like signing up customers for an e-mail mailing list.

"She's the one who really has the entrepreneurial spirit, the focus, the vision," Ms. Grimes said.

The three sisters share the duty of ordering merchandise. Ms. Hansen likes to select items with a lot of "bling." Bling is "flashy or elaborate jewelry and ornamented accessories that are carried, worn or installed."

"It's very tasteful," Ms. Grimes said. She usually orders items with less bling than her sister. "We get bling heavy sometimes," she said.

One of the biggest challenges for the sisters is competing with all the bigname shops at Bell Tower or Coconut Point.

"People are going to go where they can find something they really like or something at a really great price," Ms. Grimes said. "Everybody is facing the same challenges right now and competing for these same customers."

Shimmer & Chic also gets involved with charitable organizations by hosting "Shop Nights." Ten percent of that evening's profits are donated to places like the American Heart Association or PACE Center for Girls.

Ms. Grimes plans to keep the boutique stores small and never expand outside Fort Myers or Franklin, N.C., where she has a second home.

"I can't see opening in places where we don't have an active role in the community," she said. "It's that personal touch we try to create that sets us apart."