Shop Localista: Cheeks Boutique

Cheeks Boutique is a rare retail experience that manages to seamlessly blend an eye-catching assortment of women's fashions, fine furniture, fragrance, accents, accessories and décor onto one artfully arranged sales floor. Filled with a wide selection of luxurious, international and eclectic without feeling clichéd or cluttered this store is a true South Orange treasure and a destination location for out of towners.

When you walk off South Orange Avenue into this unique boutique, you're instantly immersed in an exotic oasis of signature styles and surprisingly affordable prices (bags and outerwear aside, most wearable items here max out at about the $100 price point.)  

Owner Kimberly Grant's has strived to create a shopping experience that envelopes the senses with rich tones, textures and fragrances that reflect her personal lifestyle vision.  "I wanted people to come out of here feeling better about themselves," she explains. She also contends that  ultimately that change is about more than meets the mirror: "The better you look and feel, the better choices you make, which creates a better life for yourself."

Having grown up in a family of artists, surrounding herself with beauty and style comes naturally to Kimberly, who in person is as dazzling  and effortlessly chic as the pieces she selects. She also radiates that enviable fashionista confidence that transcends budgets, labels and trends.  Grant describes her personal style as adding "flair to everyday living and embracing the empowering side of sexuality." It's also inspiring to note that she manages embody that spirit as both a ten-year area resident and a working mom of a 14-year old son, now in high school.

Not surprisingly, Cheeks has managed to earn a fashionable, loyal following of  and is now nearing its fifth year in the same location. The fact that it's managed to not only survive, but thrive in this era of economic woes, the boutique's success is a tribute not only to Grant's stylisg insticts, but to her business savvy as well. With 17  years of experience in sales and marketing  (six of those on Wall Stree), Grant has fashioned Cheeks as a multi-prong interior decorating and personal consulting company with a strong online retail presence.

When it comes to clothing selections, Grant's favors exotic European pieces but her overall formula is simple: "Cheeks is all about dressing organically to fit your shape, coloring and style- whatever makes you feel sexiest," she explains. Fashion aside, smiles are ultimately what she sincerely enjoys seeing emerge from her dressing rooms. "What drives me is helping people uncover options and selections that make themselves happier and feel better about themselves," she adds, flashing a genuine, signature smile of her own.

If you haven't discovered the fashionable charms of Cheeks Boutique here's some serious incentive: Kimberly is offering the Shop Localista deal of the week: Just mention this Patch article and she will graciously give you a generous 20% discount on any one non sale item of your choosing. Offer good from Thursday, September 16^th through Wednesday, September 22th.

Cheeks Boutique: 65 S Orange Ave, South Orange, NJ 07079 | 973-762-5555