Jennifer Croll: Setting Her Designs on a Revitalized Downtown

08.07.2008

Publication: Scottsdale Airpark News; August 2008
By Elizabeth Hughes

Scottsdale resident Jennifer Croll launched her first high-end retail store with her high schools sweetheart-turned husband, Cristian, 12 years ago. The couple launched that venture in Los Gatos, Calif., an idyllic community south of Stanford University's Palo Alto campus. Today, the entrepreneur oversees boutiques in Arizona and California. Most recently, Croll was central to the expansion of Downtown Scottsdale through her role on the development team for The Mix Shops. In June 2008, Croll spoke to Scottsdale Airpark News about Downtown's resurgence and the importance of the boutique retail experience.

SAN: You already have a presence here in the Airpark with your Kierland Commons store. How would you set Angel & Wingman and Cici & Belle apart from that store?
CROLL: They're Jennifer Croll stores, but with the original development agreement with the City, we made a commitment not to have national chains within The Mix. The idea of using different names (for my stores) was because we don't want national chains, but I am (one). Because I had stores in other locations, the question was - where do we draw the line? Can Jennifer Croll open a 'Jennifer Croll' store at The Mix? Angel & Wingman (a reference to nicknames for herself and Cristian) and Cici & Belle (references to her mother and daughter) are names that are near and dear to me. I thought it was more appropriate to give those stores more intimate names that reflect who I am. The merchandise is basically consistent with other Jennifer Croll stores ... Cici & Belle is part of our dress/evening component and Angel & Wingman is more of our causal component. However, that has been a bit more confusing to our customers - so you may see us transition back to just Jennifer Croll.

SAN: So you might allow a slight variation of the rule of "no nationals," but these are sub-brands?
CROLL: Yes, and Jennifer Croll is national in the sense that I have a few other stores. However, I've since closed my store in Texas and, economically, I'm now becoming more Scottsdale-based. And because my customers ask (at The Mix) "where is the Jennifer Croll store?" we may get back to rebranding them as Jennifer Croll stores.

SAN: And how would you compare your experience at Kierland Commons to your presence at The Mix? What are those two environments like from a business owner's vantage point?
CROLL: I think that they are very consistent and alike in that they are both enjoyable shopping experiences. In all of our stores, we have a pool table, TV, and almost a "lounge-like" environment because we want to attract a consumer who shops for the experience, and makes it part of a lifestyle versus just taking out the wallet and spending. I think that in the boutique industry that's it's all about. The boutique industry has just exploded in the last 10 years and it's very much based on a "lifestyle" experience of shopping, not a department store experience of shopping, and not a mall experience of shopping. And aside from the aesthetic values of these (MXDs), there is a value brought to the customer in terms of high quality of merchandise and high quality of customer service. (And like Kierland Commons), we're promoting the leisurely walking component at The Mix. I've worked hard to groom that component of the development in its Downtown urban setting.

SAN: What is the draw of the non-chain business model to discerning shoppers? Kierland Commons obviously has national brands. How does The Mix attract a different demographic?
CROLL: Well, I think you get a different level of personal attention. You may very well find that the owner of the store also works there or you have an employee directly connected to that store. So you can do anything in that environment (for the customer). You can do special orders or special deliveries and provide these services that national chains cannot.

SAN: Is it harder to get financing for an independent store versus a national?
CROLL: The challenge with the redevelopment of Downtown in general is that the City really wanted to make it a destination. Now the beauty of what we did with The Mix at SouthBridge is that it becomes that global destination. The pattern with "lifestyle centers" is that while they're beautiful, successful, and have great mixed-use, you can go to one lifestyle center in California with some of the same stores and have similar experiences. So the question becomes, what drives people to the lifestyle center? The Mix creates a model that is needed Downtown because you take the best of the best retailers of the local community and that becomes a global destination for tourists because they cannot find those stores elsewhere.

SAN: And an elite shopper finds, for example, a dress that five of her friends don't already have.
CROLL: Exactly. And it's challenging because banks don't necessarily want to finance the small "ma and pa" store. There are lots of reasons why it's challenging (for independents), but as we create this successful model with The Mix, I think you will see this (model) emerge as a trend. There is a room for it.
We don't want to become a homogeneous nation with only big nationals. If you go anywhere in Europe, you find these charming downtowns. Of course, we already have a very successful mall (Fashion Square) in Downtown Scottsdale with major tenants. So Downtown does have that component, but what we wanted to do at SouthBridge was to create an environment with local stores that becomes a destination.

SAN: Is there a neighborhood or street in another part of the country that you'd like to see The Mix sort of evolve into? When you look at Scottsdale 12 years ago, so much of the new development was not here at all. Whereas San Francisco, with its European feel in areas, is filled with buildings and neighborhoods that evolved organically - over the course of 100 years in some cases. How do you see The Mix "aging"? Is there another area that serves as a model of how you'd like to see the property age gracefully?
CROLL: Wow - well, I think that Downtown Scottsdale has a sense of history that you cannot create anywhere else in the state of Arizona. It's got a foundation of serving as the center of the city. And Arizona's at the center of the nation, so we have an opportunity to really do this well. We were fortunate in that - when I moved here seven years ago - there were these sprawling developments. People were sort of ignoring Downtown Scottsdale - except for (developer) Fred Unger, fortunately, and people like (Mayor) Mary Manross who really had a collective unity in the sense of "let's make this a destination, let's not sell out, let's make this unique." Regarding an example (outside the market), Telluride is a great one in terms of a community that stuck to its end goal and did not sell out. There's not a (national coffee chain) within 40 miles. So that's a perfect example of a unique town that created this destination that you just can't find elsewhere. And it's charming and it gets people talking about why they need to go there.

SAN: What eventually brought you to Scottsdale as a resident?
CROLL: Both my husband and I grew up in Los Gatos, Calif. from day one. We moved up to San Francisco and lived there for five years. And I think we never really talked about where we wanted to go after that. After having our son, Jack, we came here to check it out one weekend and we fell in love with it. We saw the growth potential and the country club lifestyle which is something we wanted for our children, and we saw the opportunity to grow our boutique retailing concept environment. So we decided to go for it and build a house. And Scottsdale has so many assets, so many world-class resorts and draws.
Right now, we're passionate about bringing this destination, urban shopping district to this area with Fred Unger and other players who are all committed to keeping this part of town the gem that it is.