|
|
|
The transition is seamless: When 18-year-old Wheaton North senior Marisa Capua leaves school at 1:30 p.m., she heads to Uptown Girl in downtown Wheaton to take over for her mother, Penny Zuidema, who owns the store.
Together, the pair runs the women's clothing boutique — only enlisting outside help during the busy summer months.
The two are part of a growing trend.
While the traditional idea of a family-run business usually involves a father-son team, the increase in female-owned businesses — more than 40 percent from 1997 to 2006 — reflects that mother-daughter teams may be gaining popularity.
In fact, in downtown Wheaton alone, Uptown Girl, The Stork’s Cradle, The Genuine Article and the recently opened Two Shopaholics are all manned by mother-daughter teams.
Uptown Girl — a women’s clothing boutique — opened in September 2010 after former stay-at-home mom Penny Zuidema decided she needed something to call her own. From there, the store was born. A year and a half later, the business is doing well, and Marisa accompanies her mother on buying trips to Atlanta, Dallas and Las Vegas to lend a younger eye and bring a youthful vibe to the store's collection.
The duo’s classic taste and individual styles show through in their outfits: On a recent day, Penny Zuidema sported a sparkly gray sweater and Marisa wore a sleek black dress — and both wore black leggings.
Marisa plans to follow in her mother's footsteps by attending college for business and opening her own boutique, “probably somewhere in Florida,” she said.
Her younger sister isn’t far behind, and the women admit that Alisa Capua — the youngest at just 12 years old — is more fashionable than either of them. She’s already stealing clothes out of her older sister's closet, Penny Zuidema said.
In just a short amount of time, the store has become part of the family. Don Zuidema — Penny’s husband and Marisa’s step-father — does the bookkeeping, and the customers have become extended family.
“We’ve been very lucky with our customers,” Penny Zuidema said. “They start out as our customers and really end up being our friends, an extension of our family.”
Penny Zuidema remembers a woman she didn’t know coming into the store and asking about Marisa's plans for college. Turns out, the woman was in the store a few weeks earlier and struck up a conversation with Marisa.
The transition is seamless: When 18-year-old Wheaton North senior Marisa Capua leaves school at 1:30 p.m., she heads to Uptown Girl in downtown Wheaton to take over for her mother, Penny Zuidema, who owns the store.
Together, the pair runs the women's clothing boutique — only enlisting outside help during the busy summer months.
The two are part of a growing trend.
While the traditional idea of a family-run business usually involves a father-son team, the increase in female-owned businesses — more than 40 percent from 1997 to 2006 — reflects that mother-daughter teams may be gaining popularity.
In fact, in downtown Wheaton alone, Uptown Girl, The Stork’s Cradle, The Genuine Article and the recently opened Two Shopaholics are all manned by mother-daughter teams.
Uptown Girl — a women’s clothing boutique — opened in September 2010 after former stay-at-home mom Penny Zuidema decided she needed something to call her own. From there, the store was born. A year and a half later, the business is doing well, and Marisa accompanies her mother on buying trips to Atlanta, Dallas and Las Vegas to lend a younger eye and bring a youthful vibe to the store's collection.
The duo’s classic taste and individual styles show through in their outfits: On a recent day, Penny Zuidema sported a sparkly gray sweater and Marisa wore a sleek black dress — and both wore black leggings.
Marisa plans to follow in her mother's footsteps by attending college for business and opening her own boutique, “probably somewhere in Florida,” she said.
Her younger sister isn’t far behind, and the women admit that Alisa Capua — the youngest at just 12 years old — is more fashionable than either of them. She’s already stealing clothes out of her older sister's closet, Penny Zuidema said.
In just a short amount of time, the store has become part of the family. Don Zuidema — Penny’s husband and Marisa’s step-father — does the bookkeeping, and the customers have become extended family.
“We’ve been very lucky with our customers,” Penny Zuidema said. “They start out as our customers and really end up being our friends, an extension of our family.”
Penny Zuidema remembers a woman she didn’t know coming into the store and asking about Marisa's plans for college. Turns out, the woman was in the store a few weeks earlier and struck up a conversation with Marisa.
“It makes me feel good because our customers really care about us, and that’s what's great about our business,” Penny Zuidema said.
And it’s not just the customers who care. Penny Zuidema sees the passion and pride her daughter brings to the store. Marisa even has her own way of arranging clothes on the racks, Penny Zuidema said.
“She spaces everything out so there are exactly two inches between each item,” she said.
When asked if her closet at home looks like the meticulously arranged store racks, Marisa blushed and said “no,” which made Mom laugh.
Penny Zuidema added that her daughter will sit on the store’s couch talking and suddenly hop up to straighten the fitting room curtains. Helping to run the store also gives Marisa more responsibility than many of her friends. For instance, when Mom went to Alaska for a week last September, Marisa ran the store by herself.
“I’m so proud to have Marisa,” she said.
The mother-daughter team recognizes that running a business with a family member can bring a unique set of challenges, but they say working together has also strengthened their relationship.
“We’ve gotten a lot closer,” Marisa said. “We reconnect everyday when I get here from school.”
