Located in the heart of Main Street in the picturesque village of Essex, The RiverLane boutique has caught the attention of fashion enthusiasts, near and far.
The women’s clothing and accessories shop opened in September of 2022 and has made a splash in this river town’s shopping scene, drawing customers from across the state.
The store’s popularity and success, says owner Robin Zubretsky, is its inspirational and diverse inventory of women’s fashions and high-quality styles, including luxury New York designer brands that are modestly priced.
“We like to think of it as being similar to the fashions you’d find on the 5th floor of Saks Fifth Avenue or the second floor of Bloomingdales,” Robin says.
At the same time, she adds, The RiverLane, which has about 2,000 square feet of shopping space, has also remained true to the New England fashion aesthetic that many are used to when shopping in Essex village.
“I thought there was a need for a place like this that has a lot of brands you don’t normally find in a local boutique. We brought the couturial spunk of the New York fashion scene and melded it with a relaxed shoreline vibe: that sophisticated yet understated fashion sense,” Robin says. “We carry over 50 luxury brands and we try to capture that vibe in our collections.”
That means that prices of designer brands at The RiverLane are modest, ranging from about $100 for a pair of Kut From the Kloth jeans to about $600 for a Veronica Beard blazer.
Other designer brands the store carries include Generation Love, L’Agence, Paige, Liverpool, Rag and Bone and Nation LTD, Farm Rio, Cinq a Sept and Frame to name just a few.
The store also sells a wide variety of designer jewelry and a “great selection of shoes.”
But great brands are just part of the story, Robin says. The RiverLane’s staff, which includes stylists, pride themselves on their personalized customer service and helping women find the right outfit for every occasion.
“Business has been terrific in the more than year that we’ve been open and we have been humbled by and are very appreciative of our customers,” Robin says. “We pride ourselves on knowing all of our customers and the brands they enjoy. We can do customized, concierge personal shopping experiences and we offer enough brands and styles for so many different looks.”
The store’s client base has grown well beyond the local market, she adds, with customers from Hartford and Fairfield counties often traveling here for the day to shop and experience the local village.
You can also shop The RiverLane’s brands online at TheRiverLane.com or follow them on instagram "@theriverlane".
The store regularly hosts special events, such as TGIT (Thank Goodness it's Thursday!) where customers can celebrate the week coming to an end with some champagne and shopping. There are also Pop Up shopping events and trunk shows, including a recently held trunk show in October with L’Agence. The next pop up event will be with Fusion Permanent Jewelry on Saturday, Dec. 9.
The RiverLane makes community involvement and giving back a major part of its business model, Robin adds. The store donates to the Dress for Success organization and Safe Futures, both which help women. Dress for Success provides a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help women thrive in work and life. Safe Futures supports victims and survivors of domestic violence, among other things, to create a new life for themselves. Additionally they hold regular fundraisers for groups such as the CT Cancer Foundation and will start a new initiative with the Community Foundation of Middlesex County.
"Our most recent donation was to the American Lung Association directed by one of their customers who won a raffle to give a percentage of sales on the RiverLane's one year anniversary. We are very event-focused and we're equally focused on giving back."
The RiverLane
7 Main St., Essex
Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sun., 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
860-662-4688
Theriverlane.com
On Facebook: @Shoptheriverlane
On Instagram: @Theriverlane