The merger last May of the marketing and purchasing talents of two women, Danielle Garonce and Maya Meir, there’s a certain indefinable atmosphere present the minute you walk down the stairs and into the store. Madame De Pompadour is located just below James, one of the premiere women’s clothing boutiques in the country, I have heard said, and a business Meir shares with two other partners.
I first meet Danielle, who blows me away not only because of her youth, but due to the confidence and business smarts the former culinary student and City of Cote St. Luc employee has developed over such a brief time. “Maya and I buy the best of everything and we opened the business because we realized there was a missing niche for this stuff,” she tells me. “We know what to buy when we see it and the products we sell are uncommon because we have unusual taste.”
Antique furniture and other home decor, scented candles by Voluspa, fabulous coffee table books, The Laundresse line of laundry products, one-of-a-kind vintage jewellery and reproductions, bedding, infant toys and clothes (including very cute Vans crib shoe sets... I yearned to be a baby again) and really stunning Terrafirma Ceramics pottery dishware, with actual lace glazed under the surface of each signed, dated piece of art... just the tip of the iceberg.
“Our customer demographic is about 25-60, and mostly women, but we carry great gifts for men, too, and especially for dads for Father’s Day,” Danielle points out. “Many of our female shoppers pick up something for their guys.”
I really liked the feel of the place and said so when I met Meir, her one year old son in her arms. “We enjoy feeling as though we’re on vacation, so we’ve given the store a beachy vibe,” Meir comments. She add s that 20 years of retail experience – including designing her own line of clothing – made a huge difference when planning the business with Danielle. I must say it really shows.
The Christmas season isn’t far off and Danielle says their holiday inventory is already available for early shoppers. “We stocked up on amazing product, gifts from $10 - $1,200, including ornaments, cards, glasses and lots more. If you check out what we have, you won’t leave empty-handed.”
Madame De Pompadour also creates original gift baskets, organizes baby showers and delivers (though not, I guess, the babies). These two women have certainly outdone themselves and I wish them every possible success. I’ll certainly look around the next time I need a little something special.
Madame De Pompadour is located at 4910 Sherbrooke St. West, just east of Victoria Ave. Tel: 514-670-6632.
I’ve started taking note of a few unsettling things in Westmount that I’ve spoken to a few residents about and that I understand haven’t always been status quo. One thing is that more and more residents are putting their garbage out on Monday evenings, far too early for the deadline for Tuesday morning pickup. And another thing I have seen more of are graffiti-defaced Canada Post mailboxes, more this past summer than at any time during the four years I have worked in Westmount. Truly, these eye-sores have never been so blatant. Anyone care to comment? I’m going to delve into this further and devote a future column to these and related issues.
