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Mixing and matching is an art learned round the world—then displayed at the hockey rink (among other fab places).
(page 4 of 10)
A Fashionable Address
“It’s an entrepreneur’s dream,” says Wil Minster. But it’s not the dream he’s living, running a century-old family business.
Minster, owner of Minster’s Jewelers on Ninth, has joined with Don McGinley of Preservation Initiatives and Jim and Susan Steward of Bennett, Colorado, to make the block of Ninth between Orange and Tatnall in Wilmington a fashion hub for women.
The group is renovating the buildings from 216 to 222 West Ninth Street. Project manager Rachel Royer of Preservation Initiatives and Hue Architecture of Wilmington are restoring the structures, while Minster recruits retailers.
“When do women have time to shop?” Minster says. “Our goal is to enable women to shop Ninth Street and get an entire outfit, including jewelry, after work or even during their lunch time.”
The so-called fashion district will complement existing businesses and mesh with the overall strategy of Wilmington’s Main Street program. Main Street “aims to have a niche for every area downtown,” says director Clarence Wright. “We have the design district of LoMa (Lower Market Street), the arts of Crosby Hill (Upper Market Street), entertainment, restaurants and, now, the Fashion District on Ninth Street. It’s all happening very naturally. With the reopening of the Queen Theater at Fifth Street up to the DuPont Theater and Theater N, we’ll have arts on every block, with Ninth Street as a natural crossing.”
—Susan Oates
Page 5: Dress for Environmental Success
