By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM — At a time when many local business owners are exhausting all their energy just keeping one store open, several savvy merchants are setting their sites on expansion.

Rather than riding out the recession, Stacie Maier and Bridget Sagmani — seven-year co-owners of Birmingham’s 110 Couture — saw the current economic climate as a time of opportunity. Last year, Maier and Sagmani opened a fashionable children’s clothing boutique called Sam and Lola at 580 N. Old Woodward, and the duo just opened a new women’s clothing boutique called Bridget and Stacie in the front 1,000 square feet of the very same store this week.

“We’re taking a lot of the contemporary, sexy clothing from 110 Couture to Bridget and Stacie, and then we’re stocking 110 Couture with evening, cocktail, and a little bit of lingerie,” said Maier.

Once inside 580 N. Old Woodward, hip moms can head in to Bridget and Stacie to shop for clothing from designers such as Ingwa Melero and Alice and Olivia for their closets. Down a small hallway filled with shiny wall-mounted candy dispensers is Sam and Lola’s with clothing and accessories for trendy tots — such as Rock Star Baby bottles and pacifiers complete with skull and crossbones and Heelarious’ line of soft baby shoes designed to look like high heels.

When Maier first leased the space for 110 Couture seven years ago, she said, she really didn’t have much support — or money. The one thing she did have, was a dream.

“I was working for a corporation that never said thank you, I had no money, I had nothing, but I had an idea. Over the years we’ve just been so fortunate to cultivate such an incredible clientele and to really be a part of the community. … You become this extended family and you get excited because you want the town to thrive,” Maier said.

Although Maier admitted she and her partner struggle every day, she said they choose to reinvest in their business because they committed to the town, the community and their families. She encourages others to chase after their business dreams and help fill the empty storefronts downtown — no matter what their current circumstances are.

“When the economy is hard, like it is now, I want people to understated that they can still survive and prosper. We have customers every day that come in, and it’s such a gift, but it’s something that we’ve earned, and anybody can do it if they really wanted to,” she said.

In a time of economic uncertainty, Tawny Thieu of Pink Pump has managed to successfully create and expand her funky shoe boutique. Thieu opened her first Pink Pump — formerly Shoe Envy — in Bloomfield Hills in 2006 and is currently in the process of debuting two new locations this summer — one in Birmingham at 150 W. Maple June 17, and the other in Royal Oak at 309 S. Main in late July.

Pink Pump stocks footwear labels as Via Spiga, Koolaburra, Betsy Johnson and the hard-to-find shoes from Gwen Stefani’s LAMB line, as well as a variety of funky and affordable accessories and clothing. The store also offers “Heels On Wheels” — a footwear take on floral delivery, where a pink-and-leopard skinned VW Bug, dubbed “The Shoe Bug,” delivers the gift of shoes to a home or work.

Thieu credits her success to the variety of price points her shops offer. “I think having something for every budget is very important because people still want to shop and they still want to treat themselves to something, no matter how bad things get,” she said.

Sadly watching as store after store closed downtown due to the poor economy, Michael Collins and David Zawicki — Birmingham residents and owners of the city’s accessories shop Oliver’s Trendz — were forced to decide whether they wanted to be part of the solution for the city’s downtown shopping area by filling one of the empty storefronts with something the community could enjoy.

In April, the duo opened an eclectic home accessories and gift shop called Suhm-thing at 120 W. Maple.

“People have asked us why in these times would we open up a store and take this risk, and really for us it was believing in what we do and believing in what we’ve done. … We wanted to be a part of the solution, and I hope to think that we will,” Collins said.

Suhm-thing, which has an urban flair, features a variety of hostess gifts, including clever quote magnets, colorful totes and coin purses, distressed picture frames, trendy luggage tags, unique dishes and pottery, and more. Since it opened, Collins said the community has really stepped up and given his staff wonderful compliments and feedback.

“I think it’s been successful thus far,” he said.

Suhm-thing, as well as Oliver’s Trendz, are supporters of the 3/50 project — an idea launched on the blog of Minnesota businesswoman Cinda Baxter encouraging people to choose three local brick-and-mortar businesses they don’t want to see disappear and spend $50 total per month to support them.

According to the project’s Web site, www.the350project.net, for every $100 spent in locally owned, independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures, while only $43 returns when spent in a national chain, and nothing comes back when purchased online.

To alert customers of the movement, Collins and Zawicki print and pass out fliers in both of their stores. They also plan to educate those within the Principal Shopping District about the movement in the coming months.

“When we started to apply (the project in our stores), we found that so many customers were unaware what the power of their money does. ... Hopefully people will think twice about where they spend their money in this economy, where everybody is fighting for that dollar,” Collins said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1060.