Balancing helps boutique owner live her dream

Krista Meyers has achieved what many women only dream about.

The Glencoe resident not only owns her own businesses — the stylish Krista K and Krista K Maternity + Baby boutiques on Southport Avenue in Chicago — but she's just hit the nine-year anniversary for Krista K, a notable accomplishment in a tough economy that has not been kind to some Chicago area boutiques.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that she's done all this and given birth to three kids during this period: son Mason, now 7, and daughters Marley, 5, and Reese, 3.

Her success is best explained by a walk through the upstairs floor of her original Krista K boutique at 3458 N. Southport. Filled with natural light from ample windows, the shop showcases adorable tops, dresses and more on perfectly spaced racks. Head toward the back of the store and you'll find a toy box full of toys, which seems out of place in a place so chic. Yet for Meyers, 39, it makes perfect sense because her customers juggle the same challenges she does.

"I feel very fortunate to have a successful business and healthy kids," a cheery Meyers said while munching on a portobello sandwich at Julius Meinl, a favorite neighborhood spot. "The challenge is how to juggle it and get that right — there are blurred lines sometimes."

Meyers, recently featured as one of Chicago's "power moms" in Michigan Avenue magazine, has known she wanted to own her own business since college at the University of Pennsylvania ­— she completed her Master's of Business Administration at Northwestern University. Between the two educational experiences she learned marketing and writing a business plan, among other business skills.

Meyers consulted for Williams-Sonoma and Levi Strauss & Co., both in San Francisco, in the late 1990s, working on projects such as creating an online presence for Williams-Sonoma. That was more difficult than it sounds given the retailers reputation for high-quality fabrics and materials. The challenge was to parlay that "high touch" experience to the Internet when the fledging online retail world was just emerging.

Meyer and her husband, who is a Glencoe native (she was born in Chicago but lived in cities around the country growing up), settled in Chicago and lived in the Southport neighborhood, leading to her decision to open the boutique in the then up-and-coming neighborhood. It had limited shopping choices at the time she opened Krista K in 2002.

Krista K has thrived because of some lucky breaks, smart decisions, loyal clients and knowing what customers needed.

A decision to include a small assortment of stylish maternity wear met an untapped need for stylish, flexible clothing that could work during pregnancies and afterward – styles that would be forgiving to the postpartum body.

Other breaks included being the exclusive retailer for designer Liz Lange before Target sold a Liz Lange maternity line. It got to the point where Meyer didn't have enough maternity inventory to satisfy customer demand, so she opened Krista K Maternity just up the street at 3530 N. Southport a few years later. Her businesses went online in 2008.

To stay sane, Meyer has learned to juggle her personal and work lives. She carves out time for herself by running with girlfriends; she most recently ran in the Memorial Day weekend Soldier Field 10-mile race.

Meyer and her husband take at least one trip a year as a couple and two trips a year with the kids. Sundays are usually family movie nights. She can drop her kids off at school and duck out of work in the afternoon to get them.

"You just have to have balance," she said.

Other tricks she's learned to help her survive: putting the BlackBerry in her car in the evening until the kids are in bed. Learning to enjoy all aspects of her business, from working with customers on the sales floor (she wishes she had more time for this) to traveling to New York and Los Angeles to choose inventory. Most important might be listening to what her customers want, such as the maternity business or, more recently, developing a service for assessing clients' closets and wardrobes. It's a growing niche in the retail industry. Her business evolves as her customers do.

"Shopping was a bit more of a hobby [when Krista K first opened]," she said. "There's a little bit less of that now. People do a lot more shopping online or get information online — including Facebook. In nine years, it's changed so much."

Find both shops online at KristaK.com.

Tamara Bell

Pull Quote: "Shopping was a bit more of a hobby [when Krista K first opened]. There's a little bit less of that now. People do a lot more shopping online or get information online — including Facebook. In nine years, it's changed so much." Krista Kaur MeyersName here, jlkjlk