When I first stumbled upon Ruti Boutiqueseveral months ago at 2119 Fillmore St. and came out with a pair of Alembika pants with oversized pockets near the bottom sides, I knew that I’m going to love this boutique so much. Finally on Sunday, November 11, the plan was realized. Thanks to Camila Casanas (Ruti Boutique’s brand ambassador), I got to chat with the owner Ruti Zisser one day after she touched down from her latest trip to Israel.
The Fillmore store was the second store she opened after the successful Palo Alto store debut.
“It took a while to launch the first boutique, mostly because I’m very picky about everything.”
“But everything went smoothly after it opened.”
And looking at customers come and go at the boutique, it’s not hard to see Ruti Zisser has great handle of the fashion pulse of the boutiques are located. Subtle, effective designs with focused accents keep the clothes from looking too basic. These are clothes that do not focus solely on hanger appeal, but how they look and feel on you.
Perhaps because of the body appeal, it’s easy to find a piece that both a grandmother and her granddaughter love. Case in point: in a span of one hour, I saw Jessica (one of Ruti Boutique employees) sold a sweater style (that she wore that day) to two ladies with presumably relatively far age gap.
Ruti Zisser looking cool in Alembika skirt
Moreover, with locations that attract upper-middle class customers and tourists, the boutique has healthy foot traffic. Stepping into the store feels natural and welcoming. It is a true testiment to Ruti’s discernable taste and great attention to detail. Collaboration with Nicole Hollis yielded a calm, stylish atmosphere to shop and discover.
Recently, she opened a new one in Santa Monica.
“(The Santa Monica store) is big….three times as big as this one,” she said with a cheerful grin.
To source merchandise for her three boutiques, Ruti goes to Tel Aviv, Israel at least four times a year. More well-known labels such as Maya Negri and Alembika, as well as emerging designers like Dina Glass are featured in the boutiques.
“Sometimes I go to an emerging designer’s studio and it’s so small…yet it’s filled with things I really like. So I said to the designer I want the everything she has in the studio,” Ruti shared an experience while showing me one of her favorite Fall 2012 piece: a leather shorts from Dina Glass.
Many pieces in Ruti Boutique are very limited in quantity, so sometimes for a style that only have three sizes available, each Ruti boutiques carry one size. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
“We used to have a shipment once a week. But now it’s the Holiday season, so at least twice a week we have new pieces coming in,” Ruti said about the shipment schedules.
Jessica (left) and Camila
And the merchandise turnover is fast. According to Jessica, many of the garments featured on Ruti Boutique’s Fall 2012 has sold out. Lucky for me, I still found a pair of Maya Negri pants that I absolutely fell in love with the first time I saw it on the website. I snatched it right away.
Customer experience in-store and beyond is also key.
“Of course, there are certain customers who want to be left alone when shopping. We respect that. But for others, we are certainly ready to help them find something specific they’re looking for.”
As for customer communication, “We not only let our customers know about new products or when things are on sale. We want to develop a close relationships with our clients.”
It’s no wonder that the clientele list keeps growing. In its third year anniversary, Ruti Boutique is going strong. More stores in Los Angeles and beyond are in the expansion plan, so Ruti Boutique may be coming near you!
You can see the pictures Chris took that day by clicking on the image below once (wait for a bit for all nine pictures to show up before you browse through them).
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Congratulations Ruti Boutique for three strong years, I’m sure it will have many, many more years to come. I’ll stop by again soon :) And thank you once again to Ruti Zisser for setting aside some time to chat with me; Camila, for setting up the appointment; as well as Jessica and Paulina for your wonderful presence that day. Cheers to Ruti Boutique!
Until next time,
Musank