On a Monday morning, WHIRL’s North Shore office is buzzing with beautiful women. More than 40 have come for a photo shoot held in of honor them — women business owners. They chat with us and with each other, excited to meet their peers and to put faces with names. They pose for photos together; they laugh together. Their contributions to the community are multi-fold — they hire local people to work in their stores and businesses, they bring commerce to their neighborhoods, they support local charities, and they source local products. “You are supporting Pittsburgh companies when you buy from us,” says A Basket of Pittsburgh owner Janet Jones. Each of the businesses featured is independently owned, and more than half cater to other women exclusively — it is e.b. Pepper’s mission to “make Pittsburgh women the best looking, stylish women around.” For these women, their businesses are more than their jobs. Their businesses are their passion. ....
It started out as a lark, four sisters driving home from a shopping trip in Texas, ooohing and aaahing over their latest treasures.
“We were driving down the freeway laughing about how much fun it was shopping together,” says sister/partner Cora DeLoia, of Coraopolis, Robinson Township. We wished we had access to these bags back in Pittsburgh and next thing we knew Spoiled Chics was born.
Spoiled Chics started out in October 2003 by offering women’s accessories, jewelry and unique handbags to women through home parties and trunk shows.According to the other sister/partner, Carina Perrone of Upper St. Clair, “You can never have too many purses or girlfriends”, and that was the whole idea behind a Spoiled Chics party. The party scene was a successful one, especially after the front page, Style Section introductory story written by LaMont Jones, fashion Editor of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Parties were booked 2-3 times per week up to 6 months in advance, with waiting lists. The motto still exists today, and although the Chics no longer do home parties, The Boutique still frequently throws many parties and events.
In June 2004, the girls opened up their storefront on Beaver St. Receiving the2005 Reader's Choice Award for 'Best New Business ,Spoiled Chics the Boutique continued it's passion for finding interesting and exciting products at a variety of pricepoints for 'spoiled chics' of all ages. One of the interesting items, which has been a great seller is the"The Little Hooker, the ultimate dinner companion,"a hook to hold handbags at the dinner table or bar was recently included in the 2005 Oscar gift bags to the stars .
Owners/Partners Carina Perrone and Cora DeLoia continue the tradition started by themselves and their 2 sisters and mother in Texas. "Mom is the original Spoiled Chic", the sisters agree. "Everything we learned, we learned from the best" says DeLoia, "She's always been my hero."
Pictured left, This vintage photo of Lola (means grandmother in Filipino) posing for Lolo(means Grandfather in Filipino) on the roof top of Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio while doing their internships as medical doctors. "They (Prisco and Benilda) were doing their internships, I guess around 25 yrs old at the time. Dad was a surgical resident, and mom still an intern. The story I heard was that he wanted a photo of her posing like 'Marilyn Monroe'. And she only agreed to do it someplace where there was no one around." says DeLoia.
Lola in the middle..
Back in the early days when home parties were the norm, we were different from other typical home parties, No games, demonstrations or speeches......"We did what girlfriends like to do best, Shop, Eat and Have Fun!" adds Carina Perrone of Upper St. Clair.
The partners can't seem to agree on who came up with the idea, but that's how sisters are. "We let Cindi think she came up with the idea," says Perrone,'but the important thing is that we enjoy sharing good times, traveling to market and shopping to set new trends. Spoiled Chics made that possible for us." Spoiled Chics wouldn't exist without the inspiration or our sisters,Cindi Bamford of Nassau Bay, Texas and Cecilia Sheeren , Houston, Texas.
Says DeLoia," the ultimate Spoiled Chic is mom' Benilda P. Evangelista of ClearLake Texas, a retired family physician , who was also a designer of Lola's Collectibles, a specialty line of handbags inspired by the florals of her backyard garden. With a curved surgical needle, she hand sewn on to the bags, silk flowers in carefully thought out creative arrangements. In addition, she created exclusively for Spoiled Chics, a line of jewelry of semi-precious stones, austrian crystal and sterling silver." Although she has retired from the bag designing business, she still has input into buying.
On most mornings that you visit Spoiled Chics, Jack, Carina's Bijon Frise is there to greet you. A regular since opening day, even Jack has a bevy of 'friends', other dogs in the neighborhood, that stop by regularly.
Spoiled Chics offers a unique line of jewelry and handbags that are trendy, classic or collectible at price points that will fit everyone's budget. Spring 2009 promises to be as colorful, eventful and memorable as always. We hope you'll come and visit.
Our Staff of 'Chics'...................
Erin and Alex
Erin Fronk has been with Spoiled Chics since we opened almost 5 years ago. She walked in as a customer, with so much style and personality, she was a perfect fit. Since then, Erin has not only been of great service to customers, but a great addition to our staff. As a product buyer, Erin has a great eye for finding new and unique accessories.
A full time pre-school teacher during the school year, Erin is currently planning her May 2009 destination wedding in Mexico so she'll be at Spoiled Chics on a select weekend schedule. She can be contacted at erin@spoiledchics.com .
Alex DeLoia, a Senior at Kent State University , is studying Applied Communications with a minor in Marketing. Her high school senior project, "Let's Make It Haute", a fashion show, dinner with vendor shopping raised over $7000 for the Allegheny-Kiski Health foundation. This event, planned and coordinated along with Moon HS student Jen Dorman, was designed to bring attention to the issues of eating disorders. She continues to work at Spoiled Chics during breaks and holidays.
Meet our newest addition to the Spoiled Chics family. Ellen M. Nash, a sophomore at Quaker Valley High School joined Spoiled Chics as sales associate in October 2008. A quick learner and hard worker, we are happy to have Ellen on board and are proud of how far she's already come.
Eve in window during Yuletide 07
Eve Stanton, a Sewickley resident, has been with Spoiled Chics also since opening day. As a student at Quaker Valley, Eve was involved in many philanthropic organizations and has assisted Spoiled Chics with all four of our last Signature Style fundraiser events for Hosanna Industries.
Eve is a Senior in Social Work and Non-Profit studies at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland. We hope to still have her working with us occasionally, as she has been an invaluable employee and part of the Spoiled Chics family.
I would highly recommend making advance reservations for dinner at Umberto's, in Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach, SC. We were only one of several large families who enjoyed the great atmosphere, service and fabulous food. Starting out with a tomato Salad of the freshest kind, ("It's the only way Paul will eat tomatoes", says Carina of husband Paul) followed by pasta and beans all served family style, the entrees that our family of 18 enjoyed included, Osso Bucco, shared by mom and dad, pasta de mare, and more.
Umberto (pictured with the family) is a Pittsburgh native, and was a gracious host. We chatted about the old "Tramps" bar downtown, Monty's and other landmarks from the past...and of course, the Steelers. Chanting and cheers for the Steelers, the steeler fight song...all part of the funand memorable evening at Umberto's. Make this a must visit, on your next trip to Myrtle Beach. Thanks Umberto!
