Gerry Garrett, owner of Lady Fenwick in Fenwick Island, may have left her planned career years ago, but she said she couldn’t be happier than doing what she does now.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON
Gerry Garrett, Lady Fenwick owner, and Dee Collins behind the counter at the Fenwick Island store.
Originally from Montgomery County, Md., in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Garrett retired from her work with the Central Intelligence Agency as an administrative officer for the government and made a drastic change, opening her retail store nearly 12 years ago.
With a vacation spot at the shore, it made perfect sense for Garrett to return to the area to start up her own business.
“The transition into retail was all relatively new to me,” she said. “I had a business background, and my love for jewelry and clothing just came natural. It was a matter of learning the buying end of it and listening to the customers.” She had worked at a small antiques business for a number of years, as well.
Once inside Lady Fenwick, shoppers can experience a selection of women’s clothing, jewelry and many accessories.
“We have a lot of repeat customers,” she said, “and I think they return because we have a lot of up-to-date fashions.”
Lady Fenwick carries everything from petites to plus and misses sizes, and everything in between.
One aspect of her store that Garrett is most proud of is the variety from which customers are able to choose. Popular clothing brand names such as Liz and Jane, Multiples by Haggar, Southern Lady, Spanx and Vikki Vi hang throughout the store.
“A lot of our stuff is high-end, down to moderate,” she said. “Nothing here’s low-end.”
Situated as it is at the beach, the styles and fashions at Lady Fenwick vary from what Garrett was used to in the metropolitan Washington area.
“There, almost everything was corporate,” she said. “Here, there’s a casual aspect, and you can enjoy what you wear and be comfortable. Everything here is still stylish, but we keep it at a happy medium.”
Most products, including an extensive selection of jewelry, are ideal for weddings and other ceremonies, as well as casual and semi-formal affairs, Garrett noted. Many customers stop in prior to vacationing or traveling.
“We offer popular resort-wear,” said Garrett, “and major swim-wear lines during the summer.” Mother-of-the-bride apparel and cruise-wear, as she describes it, are popular sellers.
“You can’t always find the kind of things we have at other places,” she said. “There’s quite the variety here. Outfits are versatile and there’s a good balance of everything.”
“We have excellent customer service here,” she added. “It’s a service they can’t get when they go to a department store. We want to acknowledge them when they walk through the door and make them feel welcomed, but not bother them.”
Employee Dee Collins started at Lady Fenwick only a few months after it opened in 1996.
“She’s been an excellent extension of the business here,” Garrett said. “She works really well with the customers.”
Collins, who worked retail 12 years prior to starting with Lady Fenwick, is an Ocean City native. “It’s great to be working with Gerry,” she said. “Our store has some of the best selections around.”
Although there are constantly new faces arriving in the store, Garrett said much of her business comes from the loyal returning buyers.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON
Lady Fenwick carries the latest fashions in it’s Fenwick store.
“You get more tourists in the summer, but in the winter,” she said, “there are some people who come here for conferences, or homeowners coming into town. A lot of them are repeat customers. They make this one of their stops on the weekend.”
Garrett admitted that one area of clientele in which she’d like to make major inroads in the future is the number of true locals who frequent the shop.
“There are a lot of people who live around here, inland,” she said, “but not a lot of them think to come out here and shop for clothes.”
In addition to women’s apparel and jewelry, Garrett also carries shoes, as well as various purses and handbags from popular names such as Lily Waters. She hopes to introduce more popular name brands to the shelves in the upcoming year, too.
“It’s been really great,” said Garrett, reflecting on the nearly 12 years since she first started in Fenwick. “I’ve always been a shopper. My love for jewelry and clothing drew me to this, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Lady Fenwick is located in the Fenwick Square Shopping Center in Fenwick Island, beside the House of Welsh. They are open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays through the winter months, and 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Sundays. For the time being, the store is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, though it will open seven days a week come spring 2008.
Shoppers now can enjoy a pre-Christmas sale, which has drastically reduced most apparel prices by up to 50 percent, with 25 percent off much of the jewelry. Customers can expect a New Year’s sale to continue throughout the season, too.
For more information, stop by the store, or call (302) 537-2477. Shoppers can also check out Lady Fenwick online at www.LadyFenwick.com.