Lucero, owner of Mona Lucero Design, is a fashion designer and retailer in the lower Highland neighborhood northwest of downtown. She flippantly describes her shop as “bringing unsuspecting Denverites the newest and the hippest in très chic/tragique chic.”
I opened my boutique one year after the tragedy of 9/11, so, in truth, the economy has been pretty bad since I began. There have been a lot of ups and downs during that time. I sometimes joke I’m like “the Princess and the Pea” — I can feel every little bump. Retail seems to be very sensitive to things that are going on in the economy.
“Last summer was actually a very good season for me in terms of sales. Even though every year I have found things slow down in September, there was no predicting what was coming next. When things slowed down, it felt like just another jolt, but now I realize it’s going to be a long-term thing. Some of my customers have been monetarily affected, and some are more afraid of being affected and have curtailed their spending — just in case.
“I was worried the past holiday season would be nonexistent, but it was OK. It was down from the year before, but it wasn’t horrible. Many people who came in said they were making a point of not buying at malls and wanted to support small businesses such as mine. For that, I’m very thankful.
“In this economy, I’ve found that I have to be very flexible and give people what they want. The thing that seems to work for me is to focus more on service than on product. To that end, I now offer custom design, alterations on everything in the shop and restyling of customers’ existing garments. I am also offering more types of products, including men’s clothing and gifts.
Along with other retailers, I offer sale merchandise now more than ever. I am also about to launch an online retail site, which I hope will reach out to customers nationally.”
