Tupac's Sister Among Owners of Newest Decatur Boutique
Decatur Metro | June 13, 2008 | 8:33 amWe’re finally getting some info about the new 3 Wild Seeds Boutique, which recently opened in the old Stella Bella spot in the Townsquare Condos.
Daily Candy reports…
Marching to the beat of your own drum has landed you alone on your tuchus.
Marching into Wild Seed Boutique? A better idea.
Owners Set Shakur, Tamúra “T” White, and Kianga “Kiki Kitty” have bios as delightful and diverse as the clothes their store carries. Shakur (Tupac’s younger sis) is a stylist who grew up obsessed with sci-fi and fashion. White’s an AIU grad-turned-custom dressmaker. Kiki’s designed for Sean John, Heatherette, Eve, and Justin Timberlake.
Bonsai trees, a water wall, and boudoir-style dressing rooms have pretty-meets-eclectic touches all over. The merch is equal parts upscale vintage (Louis Vuitton and Escada blouses and Falcon Crest-worthy ’80s cocktail dresses, last we checked), bicoastal flirt (LaRok tanks, Serfontaine jeans), and indie pieces by the owners and their designer pals.
Don’t blow this one off.
Wow…sounds like a really interesting place. Even to a guy with limited fashion sense! Good luck to the 3 Wild Seeds!
Decatur boutiques now sporting Escada and Louis Vuitton? I’m definitely sensing an emerging upscale trend as old stores are replaced. Stella Bella into 3 Wilds Seeds. Tropical Smoothie Cafe into Tastings. Square Roots into Worthmore. What’s next?
Thanks to Carl for forwarding this along!
As one who lived in VaHi as it transitioned to a destination you can take a short drive and see whats next. The only difference was VaHi shopping was owned basically by one person so no mid rise development.
Is it just me or are the shops in the bottom of these mixed use developments less successful then the ones located in older structures? I know I prefer to shop
in a place that has a funky character of its own.
In my opinion, the shops that are successful are the ones that have items the community wants, needs and/or can afford. Also, I tend to spend my hard earned money in stores where the owners and employees are nice, greet me pleasantly when I come in and give me that “hometown warm feeling”. I don’t beleive it has much to do abouot whether they are located in a mixed use building or an older building.
scary business. see: “Other Blue Jean Bandits Arrested in Dawsonville”
Age (or degree of renovation) of a building has to do with success of a business only in the sense that new construction, especially in increasingly desirable places like Decatur, commands higher rents. That puts a higher burden of profitability on the tenant, a burden that funky start-ups often can’t sustain.
We also have a fairly unique situation in Decatur because, for the most part, our new downtown development is infilling parking lots, not removing historic building stock. Unfortunately, removal of a lot of our older downtown buildings happened largely in the 60s in misguided attempts to appeal to the new, happy-motoring suburban class by creating more parking. We’re correcting those mistakes now but, despite the considerable good it’s brought to the health of our downtown, it’s not a great model for really cool indy-type businesses.
I’ve often wondered if the city could explore ways to foster start-ups. Maybe allow a row or two of one-story “incubator” strips downtown in areas that don’t seem to be moving towards development (like maybe the parking lot next to Chick Fil A?) with relaxed code and no parking requirements — basically repeating the model of the Cakes & Ale strip — allowing semi-permanent retail to be constructed affordably in exchange for a lower rent structure. Of course, like affordable housing initiatives, it does involve manipulating the market but, for some who fear the loss of Decatur’s funky culture, it might seem a reasonable trade-off.
As a former fashion Buyer for major clothing manufacturer, I’m always happy to see new fashion boutiques come to town, so Wild Seed – I’m there! After all, its fun to reminisce of the days when I had more than five minutes to dress myself and when my closet held designer labels. I just hope that I can fit through the doorway with my double-wide stroller, and that Set, “T” and Kianga don’t mind me showing up in my gym shoes
Hopefully, like a lot of my Decatur neighbors, I too prefer the more creative independents than the predictable souless chains. In San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, the old Italian section of SF, the neighborhood passed zoning language that prevented chains from moving into the neighborhood. This insured the charater of a truly unique neighborhood by preventing Starbucks (as an example and not picking on Starbucks) from horning in on an authentic Italian esprsso house that has been triving decades before there was the ubiquity of latte shops.
I believe a similar measure in Decatur would be a win-win. In that, it would insure and keep our valuable neighborhood character, and it would enhance retailers viability by preventing competition from chains.
I must not get out enough. Are there carloads of people coming to Decatur to shop on the weekends or something? More power to them if there’s a market for that stuff, but I’m starting to feel a bit too frumpy for this town.
In San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, the old Italian section of SF, the neighborhood passed zoning language that prevented chains from moving into the neighborhood.
This would be a bad idea for Decatur. I too generally would prefer to shop at independent stores as well, but I would just have a problem banning chains. Seems like in Decatur Starbucks successfully co-exists with Java Monkey and all the other coffee shops downtown. And if we did this, we would have a 0% chance of ever getting a grocery store!
Hi All! Kiki from Wild Seed here. I’m so excited that you guys are talking about us. I’m getting so emotional (sniffle..). Thanks so much for the warm welcome into the neighborhood.
Ya know me and the other wild seeds are actually old souls and we’re looking to dress everyone! In particular the more mature woman. Give us some time, you will all see yourselves shopping at wild seed. We’ve got so many ideas and we welcome all of your ideas as well. Thanks again for welcoming us with open arms. I can’t begin to express how much that means to each of us! Hope to meet you all at the boutique soon!
Kiki Kitty
I agree wholeheartedly with Bill. There have been many instances in Atlanta recently of Chains bending to smaller spaces due to urban growth.
And honestly…San Francisco? Let’s try to be our own Decatur. ie…let’s try to be more open minded than our friends to the West.
i feel you ladies big time,though am based in africa,i can feel the vibe. in this business you are in , remember that these some fools who go hate your style, but nomatter, what you gat to keep ya heads up, keep the faith and pray for much better days ,the sun will always shine!!!!!
Would love to have more clothing options for men…that are affordable (which I realize is a relative term). I have a favorite store in Decatur for my cool fashions, but can seldom buy there because of price point. They have top quality goods and are priced competitively with others who sell same merch….but my budget won’t allow for a $90 casual shirt even if it is incredibly groovy… Plus, I am a middle aged now, and dont’ have much interest in baggy pants, shorts with enough pockets to hold supplies for a weeks camping trip, and T SHirts that look like tatoos…Oh well…
Congrats to Wild Seed…
@ decatur mom. There are not carloads of people. I have lived in the area since 1995 and businesses come and go. Decatur is very quaint and shops try to come in and make it the new trendy area, but they don’t last long. One-two years is the longevity of many businesses in this area. I can’t begin to tell you how many times that Intaglia (or formerly Intaglia) place has switched hands. Stella Bella was in and out with the quickness.
However I look forward to Wildseed coming to the town. I can’t wait to visit and do a writeup on the store. If you all are open to hosting events, please feel free to visit my site and contact me. I write for Peach Connection and they are always looking for opportunities to host an event and draw people to a location.