Rent increase leads owner of this downtown Boise shop to close after 22 years
The sign in the window of American Clothing Gallery at 8th and Main announces that owner Lil Kurek is retiring.
But not by choice.
Kurek lost her lease on the 1,000-square-foot shop she has operated at 100 N. 8th St. since 1998. She has until the end of January to move out. She tried to negotiate a new lease, but the owners of Main + Marketplace wanted to double her rent, she said.
“And they wanted me to sign a 10-year lease, and I can’t do that,” Kurek said in an interview. “I’m 65 years old, and that’s a little too long.”
She’s not bitter. The Hawkins Cos., which bought the two-story building formerly known as Capitol Terrace in 2017, has spent more than $2 million on renovations.
“Progress is always tough,” Kurek said. “I’ve had a good run. I love Boise and love having my store in Boise.”
American Clothing Gallery is just the latest Main + Marketplace tenant to be displaced. Piper Pub and Shige Japanese Cuisine operated from the second floor before closing in 2018. Southern restaurant Tupelo Honey opened in those spaces in November, after spending $1 million to renovate the space.
Kurek specialized in missy fashions for women over 45 who were close to retiring or retired, she said. She also sold artwork and jewelry from area women.
“Most of my clothes were washable, so they were just very easy everyday wear,” she said. “They were packable, so they were great for travel.”
When she opened her shop, Kurek bought from companies located in North, Central and South America. Over time, many American clothing companies moved their manufacturing elsewhere, so her clothing came from China, Indonesia and Europe.
“But I kept the American look,” she said.
She likes to say she had the best location in Boise.
“I’ve got 64 feet of glass on Main Street,” she said. “That’s the best advertisement I could possibly have. I’m literally in the heart of downtown, across the street from the convention center.”
Convention travelers made up a significant portion of her clientele. While American Clothing Gallery never had a website, she maintained an email list of customers and sent them photos of outfits she thought individual customers would like.
“My tourist mailing list was actually larger than my in-town list,” she said. “I shipped so much merchandise the people at the post office knew me by first name.”
Kurek said she would have liked to have stayed three more years. She looked around for another small shop space but didn’t find anything suitable.
She began her retirement sale Jan. 2. She said she’s been overwhelmed by the number of people who have come into the shop to say they’ll miss her.
“There’s been a lot of tears shed,” she said. “It’s been really hard, but it’s also gratifying.”
Caldwell resident Kristen Weitz said she’s been shopping at Kurek’s store for about 15 years. She said she was impressed by the high quality of the clothing and that there were only a few copies of each design.
“Her store has been a staple in downtown Boise,” Weitz said. “She will be missed by a lot of people.”
The space will be occupied by Stella’s Ice Cream. Stella’s opened in Nampa in 2018 and added a second shop in Eagle last year. According to its website, it also has a store planned for Meridian.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 1:10 PM.
