Crimson Mim Opens a Palo Alto Store

A fashion fixture on Main Street in Los Altos since 2005, Crimson Mim recently opened a second location at Town & Country Village in Palo Alto.

After patiently waiting out a retail roller coaster for a few years, owner Christine Campbell signed a lease at the outdoor shopping and dining complex this spring and quietly opened a couple of weeks ago.

“The timing and the economy isn’t perfect, but this could actually be the best time to open (a new store),” she said of today’s competitive lease rates amid signs of improvement.

Crimson Mim, named for Campbell’s favorite color and a beloved grandmother, opened its first store in the Los Altos Village before the recession hit. It specialized in then hard-to-find shoe brands such as Bettye Muller, Chie Mihara and Anyi Lu, priced somewhere between high-end Jimmy Choo and pocketbook-accessible Via Spiga. Campbell also featured a carefully edited selection of clothes by emerging designers and labels not found in department stores. She was one of the first in Silicon Valley to carry 3.1 Phillip Lim, now one of the most coveted brands among fashion-forward women.

Campbell was also a smart retailer during tough times, establishing a fashion following with unique merchandise and cultivating a personal relationship with her customers. She was a constant, friendly presence in the store, keeping track of birthdays, professions and even vacation plans.

Campbell calls her Palo Alto location the “big sister” of the two stores. While the Los Altos spot has the feel of walking into the closet of a quirky-chic clotheshorse friend, the Palo Alto location is sleek and airy, with lots of natural light and pale, angled walls.

“One of the things I love is being able to display the clothes in a bigger space,” she said of the 989-square-foot boutique, “and I’ll be able to carry more independent designers now,” in addition to customer favorites like Trina Turk and Velvet.

The Town & Country location also has “more of a retail footprint,” said Campbell, referring to the Palo Alto customers who already frequent the center, adding that she hopes it’s also a convenient stop for the area’s working women, particularly from Stanford University and high tech firms. They’ll find unusual but wearable labels like Caron Callahan, Whit, 0039 Italy, Rachel Comey, Harvey Faircloth and Graham and Spencer. The pieces are authoritatively chosen by Campbell, who has a keen eye for the special items local women want in their wardrobe.

“I love that it’s different from anything we have here and I think it’s really smart of her to have two locations with stores that have a different feel to them,” said Pam Rosekrans, owner of In Her Shoes, a footwear boutique a few doors down from Crimson Mim. She added with a laugh that she was the one who talked Campbell into expanding to Palo Alto.

Campbell, in turn, said she won’t be carrying as many shoes in the new store, partly in deference to Rosekrans’ business, but also because she wants to showcase more clothing and give it a distinct personality separate from the Los Altos shop.

“I already see that Palo Alto women dress up more than what we usually see in the area,” she said. “I hope that’s a good sign for us.”

Crimson Mim’s two locations:

• 322 Main St., Los Altos

• Town & Country Village, 855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto