Body Guide magazine recently presented their list of the best intimates companies around the world. On the list, right up there with Vanity Fair of Europe, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue is our very own She She!
Here’s what Body Guide had to say:
Husband and wife Sal and Sylvia Simon noticed that there was no specialty women’s lingerie store in their suburban Chicago area. Already owners of the ready-to-wear shop Merra-Lee, in 1968 they opened the intimate apparel shop, Petticoat Lane, in Geneva, Ill. In the late 1980s their son Michael Simon took over as owner, in 2003 re-vamping the shop and renaming it She She. Today, the 1,000-square-foot shop still strives to provide the excellent service that it was founded on, but with a “modern, updated fee.”
The Merra-Lee Company now operates five women’s merchandise shops in the Geneva area, with She She’s sales making up about 20 percent of total sales. The store’s staff of 10 includes two full-time ABC-certified fitters, and eight part-time certified bra fitters. Heather Schade and Denise Harshbarger, who make up the buying team, attend Style Maxx, Curve and MAGIC.
Schade and Harshbarger described the She She concept as catering to women of varied tastes, needs and sizes, ranging from 32AA to 44F and XS to 3X. Prices run from $9 for select panties and novelty items to $120 for the finest lingerie and pajamas. Bras are priced from $48 to $50, shapewear from $28 to $78 and post-surgery products from $42 to $380.
She She carries whimsical pajamas, sassy and romantic lingerie, practical and functional foundations [consisting of] bras, panties [and] shapewear, and specializes in after-breast-surgery products [including] breast forms, bras [and] swimwear,” Schade and Harshbarger said. They added that the store’s design mimics their product offering, with its combination of “attitude, sophistication and whimsy in a comfortable, friendly environment.
Customers range from the teen girl to the woman in her late 80s. And despite She She’s location in an upper middle-class suburb, clients—particularly post-surgery clients—come from diverse backgrounds, said Schade and Harshbarger. Top-selling brands include Hanky Panky, Wacoal, PJ Salvage, Le Mystere, Spanx, as well as Amoena post-surgery products. Popular items include Hanky Panky lace thongs, Wacoal and Felina bra sets and Cosabella specialty camis and gowns.
Visit She She at 17 S. Third St., Geneva, Ill., 60134. For further information, call (630) 232-0933, e-mail merralee@merralee.com, or visit merralee.com/sheshe.
