Sharon Ettori had one childhood dream: to own a clothing store. It's something she's done on and off since 1985.

The Vermont native opened her first boutique, Sweet Roses, In Rutland, when she was just twenty-eight.

"I went to school for fashion merchandising in Boston, and then I moved back home to Rutland. I worked for a store there. I did my homework, and I got a feel for the customers. Then I said, 'Dad, I want to open my own store,' and he said, 'O.K. Let's do it.'"

Six years ago, she moved to Connecticut. "I wanted to work for a national chain store," Ettori says. She worked for periods of time at Nordstrom and White House/Black Market. "Being a small boutique owner is different than working for a major chain," she says. "I learned a lot about policies and procedures and managing people."

In May of 2008, she put her new knowledge to use when she opened Jeri James in Glastonbury's Somerset Square.

Named for a store she bought in Acton, MA, which has since closed, Jeri James reflects a sensibility that values timeless fashion.

"I don't buy a lot of trendy clothing," Ettori says. "I buy a lot of pieces you can wear from year to year.

Ettori also buys what she thinks her customers will wear. "If the fashion world says skinny pants with zippers are in, I probably won't buy that because I don't think my customer is going to wear it."

The majority of Ettori's buying is done in New York where she attends the shows five or more times a year. "If I can't think of three customers who will wear an item, I won't buy it."

Working the shows - strolling through the endless aisles at New York's Jacob Javits Center or at the Piers - can be dizzying. "There's so much," says Ettori, who keeps charts of what she buys. "I write an order chart - with delivery dates - for pants, for dresses, for sweaters, for shoes. Then I kind of put it together." The challenge - and the joy - is "to put it together, to make a story out of what you've purchased for your customer." Ordering a few pairs of pants here, sweaters there, blouses from there and there is a bit like putting together a giant puzzle in your head. "You have to ask yourself, 'How do I make it all work in your store? How do you balance the color? How do you make the tops go with the bottoms?'"

The ability to mix clothing lines and pieces to put together outfits - and a look for the whole store - is a part of the business Ettori says comes naturally. "You either have that knowledge or you don't. You walk into stores and you can tell."

What doesn't come naturally and what Ettori and her staff strive to provide is a unique level of attention to the customer.

"I believe that anybody who walks into a store should be offered service," Ettori says. "And I believe in wardrobing a customer - helping customers buy staples and adding fashion to it." By selecting a few key pieces, customers "should be able to make two to three outfits with what they bought."

Ettori hopes soon to open a second location in Milford where she is presently hunting for space.

To see Ettori today, you'd never know she grew up as a Vermont tomboy with four older brothers.

"My mother always took me shopping for school clothes," she says. "She always gave me the best."

Ettori now does the same for her customers.

Published by Seasons of Glastonbury AUTUMN 2009