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Business & Tech

Vice Versa Boutique Makes Switch to Park Road

Store offers contemporary and vintage clothing and so much more.

Yseline Suarez is a woman of faith – faith in God, faith in her family, faith in her community, and faith in herself. Without it, she thinks that her life might not have turned out the way it did and she wouldn’t be standing in her new Park Road boutique, Vice Versa.

Four years ago the single mother of [then] four-year-old twin boys had a dream of owning a clothing store. She had been laid off from her job as an estimator for commercial building contractors, a field in which she’d been employed for 12 years, ever since college.

She decided to take advantage of the situation and steer herself toward retail and the “passion for fashion” that she had always had. “I didn’t have $500,000 in the bank and I didn’t go for loans. I just went with a faith in myself and a faith in God, knowing that it was something I really wanted to do.”

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Suarez had grown up around the fashion industry. Her mother Maria had been employed by the Capitol Swimwear Company in the Parkville section of Hartford. Suarez and her two sisters would walk there from their elementary school, Our Lady of Sorrows on New Park Avenue, and sit in the cafeteria for hours while their mother sewed bathing suits to be shipped to stores all over the country.

Her mother would bring fabric scraps to the girls and tell them to occupy themselves by designing outfits. “We would wrap the scraps around ourselves, make different looks and when my mother and her co-workers were finished for the day, we would put on fashion shows for them.”

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Her mother went on to become a saleswoman for G. Fox, Filenes, Macy’s and Lord & Taylor. Again, Suarez and her sisters occupied themselves after school hanging out in the dressing rooms and listening carefully to their mother’s interaction with her customers, many of whom, Suarez points out proudly, asked specifically for her.  

Suarez recalls learning quite a bit from observing her mother. “My mom would always emphasize the importance of customer service. She taught me how to hang and fold clothes and she would always say, ‘you have to know your customer.’”

Suarez's family is of the utmost importance to her and she speaks often of her mother, her deceased father, and her twin boys. Her parents worked numerous jobs to put Suarez and her sisters through elementary school. And when the money ran out for Catholic high school, it was Suarez’s mother who managed to get the girls bused to through Project Concern. Suarez graduated from Conard in 1994.

She attributes her business sense to her father, a carpenter who owned his own construction company. “He’s the reason I went into commercial estimating. My father always wanted a boy to follow in his footsteps and I always wanted to complete his wishes.”

Yet the pull of the fashion world, that she attributes to her mother, was simply too strong. After her father’s death and her job layoff, Suarez's mother told her it was time to follow her dream and open a store in downtown Hartford.

“I thank my Mom for this because if her reaction had been any different, I might not have done it.”

The name “Vice Versa” came to her because it was a term she used often to express the options that women had when it comes to dressing. She had decided that she would launch an online boutique first and from there open a physical location somewhere in Hartford.

Suarez had a friend print up tee shirts with the name “Vice Versa” and for a year she sold them out of the back of a van in the Kane Street shopping plaza. It was part of her plan to slowly get the name of her business out in the community.

In August 2009 she made enough money to buy a plane ticket to Las Vegas to attend a large buyers’ fashion convention, a trip that proved harrowing to her as she navigated the endless aisles. She was too intimidated to approach anyone.

It wasn’t until she had landed back in New York City that she gathered the strength to knock on showroom doors in the fashion district and order enough clothes to get her online site, Vice Versa Boutique, up and running the following month.

Soon after, Suarez opened a store at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Main Street in the historic Linden Building. Stocking the store with an ever-changing assortment of Los Angeles-based contemporary fashion lines and vintage clothing, custom-made dresses, jewelry, and accessories, Vice Versa quickly gained a loyal fan base, due in large part to Suarez’s commitment and devotion to her customers. She’d even give her cell phone number to clients in case they need something after hours.

“I always wanted to be a shop where somebody can shop at her convenience. Being a single mother, shopping was always difficult for me. I didn’t have the time to go to the mall. I want it be an easy way of shopping.”

After two-and-a-half years, the move from downtown to Park Road was a decision she did not take lightly. Suarez had a strong sense of community at the Linden Building but the issue of difficult parking always popped up. She also wanted to be in a more family-friendly environment, a place where her two boys could spend some time just as she had with her mother. The new store’s site has been freshened up with paint and custom shelving, turning it into what Suarez deems, “a West Coast kind of space.”

Customers will find the same eclectic mix of Los Angeles designers and vintage items that the downtown store stocked. Suarez is drawn to the comfortable and laid-back vibe of West Coast clothing, observing that customers always find it fun when they spot the same clothes Vice Versa carries on Hollywood celebrities.

Suarez’s friend, seamstress Anitra Orie, has come along to the new location and she is available to make custom clothing as well as do simple tailoring jobs. She and Suarez collaborate often, sometimes tweaking ordinary vintage pieces to turn them into one-of-a-kind knockouts.

Suarez likes to think that her store offers more than just clothing; she believes it offers a lifestyle. She provides personal shopping for any customer’s budget and “closet therapy” to help customers organize and access their wardrobes.

A line of dog clothing has proven popular and Suarez’s sons are designing a line of tee shirts “by kids, for kids” that she will carry next September.

Reaching out to her community will remain a priority for Suarez, something she has done for years through various store charity events. She feels connected to both Hartford and West Hartford.

“When I say community, I mean that I have a broad community because I lived, went to school, and worked in Hartford. But I also went to Conard for four years and I lived my life in the West Hartford area. I remember coming to all the time. Coming here (to Park Road) feels like I’m coming home.”

Vice Versa Boutique is located at 266 Park Road. Hours are Sunday and Monday: By appointment only. Tuesday–Saturday: 10: a.m. to 8 p.m. The store’s phone number is (860) 231-0122. The website is www.viceversaboutique.com.

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