It's Like Recycling, But With Chanel, And Lily, And Banana Republic

Now there’s another great reason to shop in downtown Madison, and to make sure you don’t miss the cross walk linking the Boston Post Road shops to the Stop & Shop plaza.

Coco’s of Madison is open at 724 Boston Post Road, offering both high fashion and low prices.  Some of the clothing and goods being offered are new, others what owner Mern Palmer-Smith calls “high-end consignment.” The store is filled with labels that include Lily Pulitzer (lots of Lily), and others.

Palmer-Smith opened Coco’s on the Green in Branford last June. “It has been a very busy year building the new business and holding two major fashion shows/fundraisers for local charities in town (The Community Dining Room and the Animal Shelter)” she told us via email. “Both were enormous successes and so much fun.”

Background varied, includes several careers

Like many people these days, Palmer-Smith’s background is varied and includes a variety of careers. She has worked with mentally challenged adults as a social worker and horticultural therapist in New York, and then in Stamford.  And she has run Double Exposure Boutique in Darien for 13 years, which is another high-end consignment shop. Coco’s on the Green in Branford was her second, and now Coco’s of Madison is her third store.

“I wasn’t looking to open up another store at all!” she said. Then one day several weeks ago she found herself in the basement of her Branford store, staring at mounds of unsold merchandise. She thought about how well it was going in Branford. “There is a great vitality and hustle bustle there, making it a very fun marketplace where a lot of women—I’ll even be bold enough to say that all the women—leave the shop with smiles on their faces.”

Palmer-Smith said she strives to make her stores “feel good” places where you can get lots of help putting an outfit together for any occasion. “And the best part is that it is priced at a fraction of the retail price tag,” she says, making it easy on recession battered budgets. “Who doesn’t like a bargain? Who doesn’t like to feel pretty and also feel that you shopped smart and have plenty left in your pocketbook to save for that holiday … It’s therapy for sure!”

“I loved Madison!”

So, she stood down in the basement of her Branford store, wondering how she could do more of the same. She started thinking about another store.

“I struggled with the idea for the afternoon, then got in my car and drove to see what Madison was about. I had NEVER been before. When I drove down the main street I was delighted!” she says. “I liked the way the parking was set up, the shops were interesting and fun and in interesting buildings. I liked the scale of the town. I was sold immediately. I loved Madison!”

Palmer-Smith drove up and down Boston Post Road, looking for an open store front. In many towns they are plentiful, sad to say. Madison is for the most part holding its own, despite some rumors of some imminent closures in the retail district. Drawn by some interesting sculptures, part of the Sculpture Mile in downtown Madison, Palmer-Smith turned the corner. She took a picture of some sculpture, and sent it to her artist son.

And the dance began

“Then I walked around and found an empty store front in a walkway courtyard that was so inviting and suddenly I got very excited,” she said. “I looked in the window and saw a beautiful space, perfect for me. It even had two painted pillars inside, giving it a very classy touch. Right then and there I placed the phone call to Jeff at Hotchkiss and the dance began. I was making it happen with the help of the nicest people in commercial real estate. So here I go!”

Palmer-Smith’s recent opening in Madison was at the same time I was out of town, so I missed it. Several days later, I was walking with my friend Debra and she started raving about a new store she found downtown. The prices were great, the fashions were fabulous. She and her daughter had very good luck there and recommended it to a few friends, who walked out with bags of clothes. That led to my trip there, where I bought my daughter a dress she wore to a wedding Saturday night.

At that same wedding my friend Carolyn showed up in a fabulous coral-colored evening dress. She looked amazing and I told her so. It was only $20, she confided, saying she bought it in a consignment shop in Branford where they have the cutest dog who just sits there, sometimes wearing a pearl necklace, sometimes wearing a diamond necklace.

Coco holds court

The dog's name was Coco.

Indeed, Coco often holds court in the store named after him in Branford. Maybe we’ll get to see him someday in Madison, too!

In the meantime, Palmer-Smith says she’s as thrilled to be here as the women in my neighborhood are to have her here.

“I receive items from all around the country so you never have to worry about seeing someone walk down the street dressed the same as you. It’s a form of recycling I guess, I like that a lot,” she says.  “I have all the labels including Banana Republic, St. John and sometimes Chanel, although Chanel usually sells the same day. We have all different sizes for all different occasions. And handbags, and jewelry, shoes, boots, coats, formal wear, and collectibles. You never know what will show up in the shops from week to week.”

There’s only one way to find out.

You can find Coco’s of Madison at 724 Boston Post Road, a few doors down from Ashley’s Ice Cream, in the walkway between the Boston Post Road Shops and the Stop & Shop plaza.