What’s in store? Some things just work, like cookies and milk, PB&J or a girly gift store bathed in pastels and tucked inside an old north Denver storefront.
The shop’s name, arched in pink curly-cues across the front window, is meant to capture old-school Hollywood glamour. Owner Kristi Howard merged her love of flea markets and secondhand stores with an eye for marketing honed in corporate retail to create her vision for Starlet.
And while hard-core scavengers for vintage collectibles might turn up their noses at the boutique’s retro-inspired kitsch, Howard has procured a few, fun vintage pieces like the midcentury 7-Eleven cooler near the door or pie carrier in the window that’s wrapped in a dated blue-and-green flower graphic. June Cleaver would have adored it.
Howard uses these throwback furnishings – all of which are for sale – to display old-fashioned knickknacks like rhinestone cocktail rings and jewel-encrusted cigarette cases.
What’s in stock? The proprietor’s “Ultra Lounge” CD from Urban Outfitters is fitting background music as shoppers circle this nook to survey Red Tango bowling bag totes or coordinated night lights and switch plates featuring 1950s-era cartoons. Gardeners will covet the porcelain, flower-bud teacup night lights tucked into a basket on an island at the center of the store, while pet parents will gravitate toward the register where a counter display is dedicated to “Prima Doggie” picture frames, painted wood treat boxes with fork and spoon handles, and cutesy dog and cat tags with sayings like “spoiled rotten” and “babe magnet.”
But handmade finds really set boutiques such as Starlet apart from the vintage look indulged at the mall. Howard crafts darling rain-boot planters by lining old galoshes with fabric and tucking foliage inside. She’s also responsible for the chenille tooth-fairy pillows embellished with ribbons and pixie patches, and the flower-pressed, heart-shaped gift soaps, while a friend makes the vintage-magazine-photo magnets displayed beneath a grand architectural star on the store’s back wall.
Shopper’s alert: This colorful Highland Square boutique will be open only weekends during the first half of June as its owner (and only employee) will be honeymooning in Latin America. After that, Starlet resumes Monday-Saturday hours.
What’s it cost? Monogrammed alphabet gift boxes by HeidiWorks, $10; rain boot planter, $28; vintage radio, $79; painted 1950s kitchen cabinet, $229.
Know a cool store? Reach the writer at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
