Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Denise Thompson (left) and Sophie Maddix, co-owners of Studio 67 Contemporary Clothing, recently opened the women's clothing store at Saratoga Village Center on Big Basin Way.
Career changer gets out of the office and onto the sales floor
By Rebecca Ray
For the first time in 16 years, Denise Thompson isn't, as she described, "cooped up in an office all day long." Instead, the former human resources director is running a women's clothing store in Saratoga with her friend, Sophie Maddix.
On May 2, Thompson and Maddix opened Studio 67 at 14440 Big Basin Way in Saratoga Village Center. The store replaces what used to be a video store in units six and seven, for which the store is named.
Thompson, 34, made the change after becoming "tired of corporate America." She said she loves her new venture, citing the change of environment and her love of clothes.
The store, which carries such brands as Rex Lester, Neto Leather, Fabrizio Gianni, Alberto Makali and Angelica Val in sizes 2 to 16, sells "contemporary, fun, trendy clothing," Thompson said, as well as accessories such as handbags, belts and shoes.
Because Thompson and Maddix, 41, are the only staff members, the two Sunnyvale residents are involved in every duty at the store, from sales to bookkeeping. They also travel together on buying trips, during which they look at potential merchandise.
While Thompson helps Maddix with the business aspects of running the store, Maddix, who has about 25 years in retailing, lends that experience to the partnership.
But Thompson's vocational experience isn't limited to business. While she worked for small computer software companies, the former Los Gatan also worked part time for a boutique chain during the holidays.
Maddix worked for the same boutique chain. In fact, it was Maddix who talked Thompson into working there. The two had met several years before, when Thompson was a customer at the clothing store where Maddix worked.
After Maddix and Thompson first met, they became good friends. In January 2001, they bought the 1,687-square-foot space that Studio 67 now occupies, and then founded the business together.
Between January and May, workers "gutted the store from head-to-toe," Maddix said. To make the space ready for the new business, they knocked down walls, installed sheet rock, lights and cherrywood paneling, replaced the doors to the entrances and repainted walls and the ceiling.
Maddix and Thompson designed the interior, from the lighting to the carpeting. In the front room, black-and-white-striped garments and bright-colored clothes of gold, pink, blue, turquoise, lime green, lavender and red stand out against the olive green walls. From the wooden rafted ceiling, which is an even darker shade of green than the walls, hang sets of small lights. Mirrors--one which is surrounded by a painted gold frame--hang on the walls. Near the center of the room is a black cushion with brown leopard spots that's big enough for about five people to sit on.
The cushion isn't the only place for those who hate shopping to sit and wait, while their born-to-shop companions try on and buy clothes. Near the back of the store is a sitting room, sectioned off by beads that appear to change color as spectators walk past them. In this room, with its olive green walls of almost a similar color as in the front room, and a second gold-framed mirror, are two brown leather chairs.
Near the sitting room are three fitting rooms. Above the entrance to each room is a curtain rod that curls around at each end. From each rod hangs a thick tassel and a dense dark purple velvet curtain with a harlequin, or diamond-like, pattern.
Maddix and Thompson will hold the grand opening for the store in June.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
