Talking Shop

The girlish pink-and-black curlicued, marquee-style sign in front says it all. When the decision was made to move downtown Littleton stalwart and favorite lady’s store Details Boutique across the street to roomier digs in the storefront at 2396 West Main Street earlier this year, the new building’s colorful past as a silent-movie palace in the 1920s had been part of the pull for shop owners Bart and Peggy Cooper. Although retail also has a place in the building’s past (it’s served time as a J.C. Penney and a Montgomery Ward, more recently as an unfinished-furniture emporium), the long-silent roar of the peanut gallery called to the Coopers -- and so did the spacious stage area in back, which they opened up during renovation, with visions of in-store fashion events dancing in their heads.

That stage will be put to good use tonight from 6 to 9 p.m., when Details hosts a benefit concert and silent auction, with hors d’oeuvre and wine, for the Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center and CASE for MS (Peggy Cooper suffers from MS). Popular Colorado artists Melissa Ivey, Linda Storey and Jessica Storey will perform; admission is a $10 donation at the door. And if you’re lucky, Bart Cooper will offer a tour of the basement, where such relics as old sheet music, Cracker Jack boxes and candy wrappers were found during the restoration process. (If not, the space will be included in the last of this year’s “Haunts of Littleton” haunted tours on October 25; go to www.bestchamber.com/events/haunts.html for information.) “He’s like a little kid in a candy shop,” Peggy says of her husband and his interest in the building’s past, dotted as it is with tales of underground passages and other spooky boy stuff. Upstairs is another story. Decked out in the ubiquitous black and pink, it’s a spacious change from the old shop, further transformed by Bart’s displays fashioned from salvaged doors and ladders. In addition to the bath and body lines the store’s always been known for -- including such favorites as Colorado-based Lollia, Archipelago and others -- Details now has room for expanded clothing lines from 3 Dot, Free People, Charlotte Tarantola, Ed Hardy, LeLe and others, along with designer jeans galore and cheeky, off-the-wall accessories from Lady Luck, Red Camper, Harvey’s and Annette's Touch of Class. Peggy also chooses her merchandise with an eye for things made in the U.S.A. (and especially Colorado), an aspect that’s kept Details hopping, even during the economic slump. “People are shopping wiser,” she says. “They’re really looking at what they’re purchasing, but they’re still buying.” And with Christmas around the corner, she’s hoping you’ll come in and make your own wise choices.

Not at all difficult, when you pay attention to the details.

For more information, visit www.detailsboutique.com or call 303-703-3884.
Thu., Oct. 23, 6-9 p.m., 2008