NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- After the lights were turned off at other storefronts near the intersection of Magazine and State streets on a recent evening, Patricia Steere stood inside the bright glow of her boutique picking out retro evening gloves to match a customer's 1930s-era opera coat.
"I'm always on the prowl for something that's going to spark up what I've already got," said the customer, laying a pair of purple velvet gloves on the counter.
Steere, a former radio DJ, smiled as the customer paid for her gloves and walked out of the store.
The rest of the nation may be cutting back on spending, but there is always someone looking for unique clothing in New Orleans, she said.
Steere invested $100,000 to open A Girl is a Gun, her vintage-inspired boutique, in December.
"People are buying an old opera coat and fixing it up here. People go to boutiques more here, and they'll take the chance on something they haven't seen anywhere else," Steere said.
Small businesses nationwide are struggling as credit remains tight and sales are slow to return to pre-recession levels. It's a climate that would seem to be a lethal cocktail for a retail startup.
Even so, New Orleans has seen a surge of new clothing boutiques, most owned by women and each with a mission to carve out a niche among local shoppers.
For many, survival is a balancing act between building a unique brand and catering to spending-conscious shoppers.
Carmen Sunda, director of the Louisiana Small Business Development Center of Greater New Orleans, has seen plenty of upstart retailers pitch their ideas over the years and admits the market is a gamble, especially now.
Successful retail boutiques have one thing in common, she said. They identify a niche market and they go after it relentlessly.
"They've got to have something unique. And special and if they can figure out what that niche is, they're going to be successful," Sunda said.
Steere said her self-described mix of Andy Warhol-esque details and record shop vibe are paying off so far. Store sales exceeded her projections for December, and the shop's off-color name, rockabilly dresses and staying open until 7 p.m. weekdays continue to drive foot traffic, she said.
"I'm just trying to have something that's not everywhere already. I don't want to be everything to everyone," Steere said.
Jess Leigh, who opened Lola Boutique on South Carrollton Avenue in late 2010 with owner Tiffany Mouton, said finding a niche among thrifty shoppers isn't easy.
Lola thrives off of foot traffic from the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line and Camellia Grill next door. The store also has a wide local following, ranging from Tulane students to Uptown grandmothers.
Leigh said merchandise at Lola ranges from $200 cocktail dresses to scented candles and costume jewelry. Sales rely on closely following the items that hit and those that miss.
"We order very small, we sell through what we can and we see what we were really selling. Then we chase those sales," Leigh said.
Still, Leigh noted customers today are looking for bargains at a time when markdowns mean a loss for the store.
"The sale rack is the only rack in my store that's always a disaster," Leigh said, laughing.
Rachel Roberts, 23, moved to New Orleans from Memphis after graduating from college in 2010 and opened Ragdoll in October, a 1950s-inspired shop with black-and-white checkered floors, a jukebox and rows of full-skirted cocktail dresses.
Roberts hopes to strike the balance between economy and niche by offering a cheaper alternative to vintage-hungry Tulane and Loyola students.
"I'm going the affordable route," said Roberts, noting a $160 coat is her most expensive item.
Ragdoll's sales have come in fits and starts, but Roberts has noticed shoppers are more interested in spending their money on quality items and service.
"Experiential shopping is an up-and-coming thing, more so than just walking through a department store where people are just shoving you out of the way and nobody cares about helping you," Roberts said.
Sunda with the SBDC expects more store openings as demand for local boutique shopping grows outside of traditional retail corridors to areas such as Mid-City and Lakeview.
Kendall Jenkins, a former pharmaceutical sales representative, and Monique Bonnafons, a court reporter, opened Fini in Lakeview last April. As one of the only boutiques in the neighborhood, Jenkins said the shop has been successful offering an array of products, including clothing, makeup and spray-tanning services.
But she said she still worries about pricing. Ten minutes away, Lakeside Shopping Center carries the same cosmetics and clothing styles, but she said it would be just as easy to miss the handmade Israeli jewelry and custom makeup services Fini offers if it were on Magazine Street.
"I love Magazine Street, but right now it's definitely overrun with boutiques," Jenkins said.
Boutique owners say they are going online to rise above the din, methodically posting to Facebook and Twitter accounts and offering online shopping.
Leigh said she posts pictures of Lola's new items online daily and even takes clothing orders through Facebook.
"I'm literally bothering everyone on Facebook every day," Leigh said.
At A Girl is a Gun, Steere bounces between maintaining her new website and examining screen prints for a new T-shirt she designed. She plans to rely on her brand instead of deal-based gimmicks to encourage shoppers to stop at the boutique.
She's confident her market is out there, she said.
"People are always going to go somewhere and shop. Our clothes don't ever wear out. We just get bored with them," Steere said.
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Information from: New Orleans CityBusiness,
http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com
