The Woodlands Edition - December 2019

IN FOR t he season Luxe Custom Collective offers a variety of customized and handmade products for the holiday season. • MuseumBees: These original pieces of wear- • Customized/personalized home accessories: Options includemonogrammed and

able art are created fromantique picture frames and brooches. • Passati umbrellas: The umbrellas feature store-exclusive fabrics from Italy.

customized tabletop set- tings, bedding and jewelry. • Customizedwine baskets: The baskets include artisan glass ornaments and decor.

Visitors to Luxe Custom Collective can stop by a bar located in the center of the store.

BUSINESS FEATURE

Luxe offers products such as jewelry, wine and home decor.

BY ANDREWCHRISTMAN Luxe CustomCollective Market Street boutique offers unusual and customized gift items

“We want to be a place where people not only come in to shop, but have an experience,” Nicholas said. Slater said both owners take the time to get to know their clients, which helps them come up with suggestions on return visits. Among the selections currently available at Luxe Custom Collective are candles, handcraed umbrel- las from Italy, Houston Astros apparel and other niche products. Some pieces, such as antiques, are one-of-a-kind and cannot be reproduced. EVENT VENUE OPTIONS In addition to the items available for sale, Luxe Custom Collective hosts events, such as the monthly wine club Slater runs. Magart said the store has hosted wine and dinner pairings in the past, where a chef is brought in and a menu is specically built to complement the wine selections. Magart said occasionally one-time events are scheduled for interested customers, such as meeting with a winemaker for a tasting and custom dinner. “People who could not go have asked me when we will do it again,” Slater said. “The answer I give them is, ‘Probably never.’” Other events are still being developed, but Nich- olas, Slater and Magart said they plan on keeping events revolved around their clients’ interests and feedback. The goal for Luxe Custom Collective is to become a space that oers luxury products and provides a comfortable place to meet, they said. “Our goal is to know the customer base,” Slater said. “To understand what they are wanting. I think of us as a personal shopping experience. ... I think it makes a dierence that we have it all in one loca- tion. If we do not have it, we will nd it.”

L uxe Custom Collective owners Alicia Nicholas, Jeri Slater and Larry Magart said if a wine, jewelry or home decor item cannot be found at their store, they can have it made for their clients. “We want to oer something that is not readily available elsewhere,” Nicholas said. “We want to be a place where you neither cannot get the product or the service.” Luxe Custom Collective is a recent addition to the oerings at the Market Street shopping center on Six Pines Drive. Although the storefront opened Aug. , Nicholas and Slater have been coordinating to serve clients in a similar manner at the Carlton Woods neighborhood sales oce, where the two met, for several years. Nicholas focused on interior design, while Slater and Magart focused on wine and jewelry. While their individual businesses were conducted by appointment only, having a storefront location on Market Street has been a great experience so far, the owners said, though not much dierent than what they were used to. the products and services oered at their store. “For us on the jewelry side, our focus is custom,” Slater said. “When you walk in the door, you will tell us what it is you like; we will sit down and have a consultation; we will ask you the same question dierent ways just to make sure you end up with the same answer.” Customers looking to get jewelry through Luxe are oen given an estimate of two weeks for it to be made, as multiple craers are oen used in the process. INDIVIDUALIZED PRODUCTS Nicholas and Slater said they pride themselves on

The interior of Luxe is updated monthly, and the decor reflects the holiday season in December.

Luxe co-owners Jeri Slater (left) and Alicia Nicholas started the business by appointment only, before expanding to a storefront.

Luxe CustomCollective 9595 Six Pines Drive, The Woodlands 281-653-8969 www.luxecustomcollective.com Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. noon-6 p.m.

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The Woodlands edition • December 2019