Boutique store keeps family link

After 26 years selling special occasion clothes for women in Bulls, Marcia McQuade is looking to retire - but her sister will be keeping the Tizzies name for her boutique store next door.

Sylvia Clark's store - now called Flossies - will be moving across High St and selling new boutique clothing lines under the Tizzies name by September. The interior of the shop she will use is currently hidden from street view by screens, while renovation takes place.

The two sisters will have shops side by side until after Christmas. While Mrs McQuade would like to retire she also wants to sell off her existing stock, and most of it consists of summer styles.

She describes it as "mother of the bride or groom" clothing for special occasions, especially summer weddings. Much of it is imported from Australia, with beaded gowns made in India.

Cocktail-type dresses have been in demand lately, she said. Women have been looking for dresses they can wear more than once and are reluctant to pay big money for designer labels.

Mrs McQuade said most of her customers were from Wellington, Taranaki and Hawke's Bay and liked the convenience of having a big selection in one place.

"A lot of shops have a little bit of special occasion wear and the majority casual. It makes it easier for people to find it all in one shop."

Tizzies had become a "destination shop", she said. "People will ring and discuss what they're looking for with me."

Her store was once famous for letting women who were trying on clothes take them out in the street with a mirror, to see how they looked in good light.

Mrs McQuade put a stop to that after a customer left the mirror outside and it smashed, giving her seven years' bad luck. The shop had better lighting now, she said.