IT’S A VIBE

Lake Forest’s Lillie Alexander Boutique creates a personal connection with its customers that keep them coming back.

WHEN LAUREN PETERS BRINGS a new employee on to the Lillie Alexander team, she hands them a copy of the “Vibe Guide” that she wrote for the boutique when she took it over last fall.

“It’s all about the feeling I want our customers to have when they walk through our doors,” Peters says. “It’s more than the fresh candle burning and our pretty décor that will make Lillie Alexander a happy place to shop. I want our staff to treat people like guests in their home. Make them feel comfortable. Be authentic with their recommendations. It’s a privilege that people ask for our feedback. I take that responsibility very seriously because it plays such a big part in how people feel about themselves and how they present themselves to the world. Shoppers can buy clothes anywhere. They come to Lillie because we’re in town and convenient, but also for that personal connection we can offer. It’s a happy place to be.”

As Peters has begun to immerse herself into life as a boutique owner, knowing her clientele and being able to outfit women of all ages, sizes, and budgets is always top of mind for her. You can see her thinking at work in Lillie Alexander’s newly launched denim bar.

“A good pair of denim can be the most important piece in your wardrobe,” Peters explains. “We also know that jeans are one of the hardest things to buy. Our new denim shop is organized by style, color, and size. There is a real art to fitting women in the right denim and all of our stylists are learning how to help you find the perfect pair after asking you just a few questions. We call our denim expert, Julie Babat, the ‘denim whisperer.’ She has really educated herself on how different brands fit—from stretch, pocket placement, and style. There’s no one better and she’s sharing all of her tricks with us.”

Peters also knows that mothers and daughters don’t dress the same—even when it comes to something as simple as a high school sporting event or a college moms’ weekend.

“Of course we want to show our spirit, but moms want to be a little more polished than their girls,” she says. For this reason, Peters is offering embroidering and silk screening of items purchased in store so that you can show your spirit your way. Peters now dons a pair of her favorite jeans with “Golden Eagles” stitched on the back pocket, the perfect way to cheer on her daughter who attends Marquette.

Another area of the boutique that Peters is building out is dedicated to wardrobe classics. “Women need a place they know they can come to find those closet staples everyone needs—the perfect white blouse, a navy blazer, or a great pair of pants. It’s really important for us to have these foundational pieces you can have forever and just add to them from there.”

And Lillie Alexander would love to help you do this!

Now through the magic of modern technology and a Lillie Alexander stylist, you can have your closet digitized. Then, any time you shop in store, your sales representative can help you style anything new you purchase with what you already have it home. This app will also allow your stylist to find items outside of Lillie Alexander that may look great with what you’re buying.

“What I love about the Lillie Alexander app and our new website that allows you to shop our whole store from wherever you are, is that it gives us really great data on our customers,” she says. “This technology tells us how our customers prefer to shop. Some like the in-person experience, while others might prefer to do it online from home. This is all good information for us to have so that we can give our shoppers exactly the attention they’re looking for when they’re shopping with us.”

Peters is so excited that Lillie Alexander is part of the vibrant shopping environment that Lake Forest now hosts.

“I feel like Lake Forest is a destination shopping town,” she says. “You can park all day for free. We have a great dining scene and lovely shops that really meet any need you might have. I love this for our town.”

Anyone who has known Peters for any length of time understands that she is fulfilling a long-held dream to run her own store.
“I’ve always wanted to do this—to own a store,” she says. “But I’m even more excited to be on the other side of the conversation as a business owner being asked to support a local philanthropic cause. When I helped chair prom at the high school or run the Spirit of 67 Home Tour, I would ask local shops to support us, and they always did. Now I have a chance to give back in that way and that makes me so happy. It’s a chance to pay forward to all of those who said yes to me.”

To learn more about Lillie Alexander or to shop online, visit lilliealexanderboutique.com.