This new local fashion boutique is owned by a woman who worked at Nordstrom for 20 years
Everyone has a story and Rachel Peirce is determined to help them tell it.
Peirce left her corporate job to pursue fashion storytelling in her own community.
After working at Nordstrom for over 20 years, she opened the doors to her own retail store, R Storie, Oct. 14 in Gig Harbor. It’s at 11430 51st Ave. NW, Suite 101B.
The boutique is closed Monday. It’s open Tuesday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Peirce grew up on Fox Island and moved to Gig Harbor after she graduated from Washington State University.
Her love for fashion and styling started at a young age, she told the Gateway last week.
“While most of my friends in high school pursued after school and weekend jobs babysitting, I followed my passion and at age 14 I was able to get a part-time job at Nordstrom in Tacoma,” she said.
During her senior year, Peirce was voted best dressed at Gig Harbor High School.
She continued to work seasonally at Nordstrom when she’d returned home from college.
Once she graduated college, she began her career in the fashion industry at Nordstrom in Seattle.
Over two decades at Nordstrom in Seattle, she held a variety of leadership roles, including as a women’s apparel and activewear department manager, financial planner, women’s dress and sportswear buyer, and planning manager.
Her last role was as the director of multichannel merchandise planning in women’s apparel, she said.
“As with many companies during the pandemic, Nordstrom downsized their workforce and my role was eliminated,” she said.
While it was hard, she knew it was the right time to start a new endeavor on her own, she said.
She left Nordstrom in June 2020.
“The pandemic provided an excellent opportunity to reset and be more present with my family and two kids while I was actively looking for the perfect location in Gig Harbor and developing a business plan for my storefront,” Peirce said.
Location and name
It took Peirce almost a year to land a final location for her store.
“I drove around, sat in parking lots, watched customers, used friends and family as a sounding board, and checked out quite a few locations,” Peirce said.
Her current space became the ideal location for a few reasons.
“It felt good when I walked into this space, when looking outside I saw trees, I liked that I was surrounded by families living in neighborhoods nearby, and to be the first store of its kind in the area,” she said.
She wanted to create a space that is welcoming, that invites people to sit down, have a beverage and chat rather than just shop, she said.
A quote Peirce likes is by American fashion designer Rachel Zoe: “Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak.”
Peirce wanted the store’s name to combine fashion, styling and storytelling, she said.
She and her husband, Chris Peirce, came up with “R Storie” together and adjusted the spelling to make it unique, Peirce told the Gateway.
“Bringing fashion stories to life with visual storytelling is the concept and my passion,” Peirce said. “People’s clothing tells us a lot about who they are, where they’ve been, and where they’re heading. It has allowed me to express who I was and a side of my personality I wasn’t always confident enough to share by speaking.”
She now gets to do that for others in her own store and community.
“I want to create an environment for people to have fun expressing and exploring their own sense of fashion and style,” she said.
What you’ll find inside
R Storie is stocked with a diverse assortment of women’s clothing brands and products.
“I am focused on giving the customer an unparalleled shopping experience by inspiring women to develop their own fashion story from a coveted offering of women’s on-trend apparel, activewear, accessories, shoes, and home goods along with a small selection of vintage clothing,” she said.
Peirce has also stocked the store with products and items from local businesses.
“The local community has been a huge part of my life and I am happy to promote small local businesses that compliment the theme of my fashion story,” Peirce said.
Artwork by Vanessa Lanza at Arbol Arts Northwest is hung on the walls for sale. Knit hats and store candles are from Stacey Tull, jewelry is from Endless Welded Jewelry, and the furniture is from Sage Interior and Design, who helped design the interior of the store.
The store is open for customers to come in and shop, and they’re working on launching a website. As part of their first purchase, customers receive a “new customer discount,” a promo the store is running.
“I was super excited to see my dream become a reality,” Peirce said. “The feedback I have received from customers has been extremely positive which has made all the hard work that much more gratifying.”
