Hidden treasure

The Norman Transcript

September 29, 2007 01:12 am

— By Michelle Sutherlin
For The Transcript
Tucked away in a little wooden house off Main Street and University Boulevard in Norman lies a women’s boutique full of accessories, apparel and gifts.
Anita’s is a jewelry and accessory boutique with some up-scale and unique clothes, said store owner Anita Shilling.
The boutique, 114 S. University Blvd., behind Norman Stamp and Seal, shares a small house that has been turned into a duplex of shops.
“This is a neat little house and women like to shop in little houses,” Shilling said.
The store is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Anita’s phone number is 360-7559.
Shilling has been in the house for 10 years, but spent the first eight years operating an up-scale consignment shop.
She is celebrating the shop’s two year anniversary as a boutique, but word has been slow to get out about the change. Even phone books still have her listed incorrectly.
Norman women who think they have to travel to Oklahoma City to select unusual and up-scale new accessories and apparel really don’t have to travel farther than downtown Norman, she said.
Anita’s carries the same clothing labels found in the popular boutiques in Oklahoma City, including Lily and Multiples. A new line she is carrying is Jackets Galore, which features fun and interesting jackets for women, “who want to be the best they can be,” Shilling said.
When Shilling makes an order of clothes she said she never orders more than six of the same item. She said she orders sizes from extra small to extra large and targets clothing for women 45 and older.
To ensure each item’s uniqueness, Shilling said she does not order anything carried in any other store in Norman or even south Oklahoma City.
“We have business apparel items that I carry which are traditional items in feel but have some flare to them,” she said.
Most of the clothing separates in the store are priced between $20 and $45.
Shilling said she is using her 24 years experience managing other up-scale stores in Norman to make her place fun and interesting for her customers to shop.
With many customers who come in once a week to see what new items have come in, Shilling said they have become like family.
While Anita’s does carry clothes, Shilling said her store is really an accessory store.
Shilling hand-selects each piece of jewelry in her store. She said she rarely carries more than one of the same jewelry items. She has jewelry for everyone from 13 year old up.
Elegant bracelets, beads, necklaces, sterling silver chains and earrings, belts, purses and hats make up the majority of her store.
“I hope when someone walks in the door and looks around they are going to find something fun,” Shilling said.
Most of Shilling’s jewelry is priced in the teens and 20s, making it even more reasonable for her customers to shop at her store, she said.
One day recently a woman came in on her lunch hour needing some help with her wardrobe and accessories. Shilling said not only did she find some clothes but her accessories topped off her wardrobe. She went back to work in her new clothes and accessories.
“She comes back every week now,” Shilling said.
Besides providing help with finding the right accessories and the right clothes, Shilling said she also can promise her customers an honest opinion.
“Women appreciate that you’re honest with them,” she said.
That kind of service has been drawing regular customers from Purcell, Blanchard and Ardmore, she said.
“I want ladies in Norman to know that we’re here,” she said. “I think sometimes they take for granted what they have in their own town.”