The Closet Connection store has recently held its grand opening at 173 Pleasant Street. The grand opening was held with Mayor Gary Christenson, City Councillor-At-Large Debbie DeMaria, Chamber of Commerce Director Joan Ford Mongeau, City Councillor Ryan O’Malley, and owners Edward Lee and Kristina Nedorosleva Valmera.
Closet Connection is a high-end consignment store that has carefully curated women’s clothes, bags, shoes, and accessories. A wide variety of brands such as Chanel, Burberry, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, J. Crew, and Tory Burch are featured.
Closet Connection originally opened in in January 2012 in South Boston and relocated to Malden in December 2017. More than $25,000 was invested in the store for its renovation and relocation by owners Kristina Nedorosleva Valmera and Edward Lee.
Nedorosleva Valmera and Lee, co-owners of the store, felt that Malden “was an up and coming city that was very open to new businesses”. They also felt that “the location was a lot better” as they wanted to downsize because “the space in South Boston was a lot bigger and harder to handle by a few people”.
Nedorosleva Valmera mentioned that something they faced was “being in a new place because people need to get to know you and you need to get to know them”. She also mentioned that since “the bulk of business comes from Instagram and Facebook and the presence that [they] were able to build in South Boston translated over here”. Other than that, the owners faced no big challenges.
Nedorosleva Valmera stated that being in a new community was like “having a clean slate as you can implement new policies and procedures; various things that weren’t working in the old location can be changed when you come to a new place.”
Nedorosleva Valmera added that they are planning on becoming more involved with the community. She mentioned that they have met with the Chamber of Commerce Director Joan Ford Mongeau and City Councillor Ryan O’Malley to plan some street events and things that they did in their previous community like “sip & shops” and strolls. To find out more about the store, go to the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/closetconnection/ or visit the store at 173 Pleasant Street.
