Old Market's unique local flavor

[eomaha]

I don't know of too many cities that have such an interesting downtown based collection of local retailers/restaurants/entertainment... than the Old Market. It is truly unique. Yes... local flavor is a good thing.

Downtown chic, service keep retailer a success

There were few retailers in the Old Market when Kat Moser opened her women's clothing store on Aug. 6, 1973.

At that time, Moser recalls, the only other neighboring businesses were the French Cafe, M's Pub, Mr. Toad's, a few gift shops, a bookstore and a furniture store.

From her vantage point on 11th Street, Moser has watched the Old Market grow up. For 31 years, Nouvelle Eve has weathered the constantly changing trends in fashion and retailing.

The store and Moser have survived despite the shift of retail development from downtown to west Omaha and beyond, and from locally owned independent businesses to chains.

In the late 1960s, buildings on both sides of Howard Street between 10th and 11th Streets - where thousands of Omahans bought fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers from sidewalk peddlers almost 40 years earlier - were being converted into shops, art galleries, restaurants and apartments.

Moser's store originally was at 413 S. 11th St., east of where it is now and the current home of Hair Market. The store featured an 18-foot atrium, plants and turtledoves. In 1976, she moved to the present location at 1102 Howard St., a 1,400-square-foot space that originally was a banana warehouse and then an art gallery.

Nouvelle Eve sold all-natural clothing -100 percent silk and cotton - for women and children. The store sells similar merchandise today, although only limited items for infants and toddlers.

Moser attributes her success to location and personal service.

The corner of 11th and Howard Streets is the heart of the Old Market. "It is the strongest part of the market. I am a destination."

Her customers are from Omaha, Bellevue, Elkhorn, Council Bluffs and Des Moines.

When Moser opened 31 years ago, she had three employees. Today, there are about 18 full- and part-time workers.

Customer service, she said, also is important. Moser said she has relationships with her customers, and her employees know what their customers need.

"Customer service is such a dying art. We really try hard to hold on to that."

Liz Bruno, an art history major at Creighton University, has shopped at Nouvelle Eve for four years since coming to Omaha from New Orleans.

On a recent shopping trip, Bruno, 22, purchased a dress, a poncho, a shirt and earrings.


Thirty-one years ago, Kat Moser, a former assistant buyer for Dayton's department store in Minneapolis and then a children's buyer for Nebraska Clothing, took $10,000 and an idea and started Nouvelle Eve in the Old Market.

"The store is like one found in a bigger city," she said. "There is a nice variety of clothes, and they're items you won't find anywhere else."

During the store's infancy, Moser said, she took steps to establish a niche and an identity. For example, lingerie, traditionally displayed in the rear of most stores, was brought to the front at Nouvelle Eve.

"Women wanted to see and buy beautiful things."

On Friday and Saturday evenings, the sales staff dressed in evening wear and served champagne to restaurant patrons who stopped in after dinner to shop.

"It was an extension of their evening," Moser said of the elegant shopping events.

That practice ended, but Moser plans to introduce a martini and wine bar on Friday and Saturday evenings, and an expresso bar during the day.

Moser said her business received a big boost when the Embassy Suites Hotel in the Old Market opened in January 1997. The arrival of other hotels in the area, and opening of the Qwest Convention Center, also boosted sales.

"With every new hotel, I bump up in business," she said. "We do great tourist trade."

Nouvelle Eve's customer base has spanned generations. Women who first shopped at the store in the 1970s brought in their daughters in the 1990s. Now many of those same women bring granddaughters into the store.

Mary Rock, who has shopped at Nouvelle Eve since 1975, is many years away from bringing granddaughters to the store. But Rock, of Lake Forest, Ill., did have her three daughters, ages 7, 11, and 14, with her when she stopped last week .

During her annual summer trip to Omaha to visit family members and friends, Rock said, she always stops at the store.

Nouvelle Eve has "gorgeous merchandise. It's very current and unusual with a certain flair," Rock said.

Moser is a graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in fashion merchandising, textiles and clothing. Before opening Nouvelle Eve, she worked as an assistant buyer for Dayton's department store in Minneapolis and as a children's buyer for Nebraska Clothing.

In 1973, Moser's husband, James, suggested she start her own business. She opened Nouvelle Eve with $5,000 of the couple's money and a $5,000 loan from her father-in-law.

The name "Nouvelle Eve," was chosen because it was the start of the women's movement, Moser said, and she wanted to celebrate the newness of women in the 1970s.

Moser said she has never thought about expanding to another store location. With the industry's shift away from small, specialty stores to large shopping malls, Moser said she prefers to focus on her niche. She can't watch what everyone else is doing.

"Listen to the customer. They will tell you want they want.

"Stick with the basics, that's the thread of my success."

[StreetsOfOmaha]

Yes, it's a great staple of the Old Market. I'm sure it's news to many people that the Old Market has been around as long as it has. So many people seem to think this kind of thing is new to Omaha.

And now my complaint :

I hate it when people say things like this:
"The store is like one found in a bigger city," she said. "There is a nice variety of clothes, and they're items you won't find anywhere else."

Yeah! Because it's in a big city! So many people have to qualify any praise they might give to Omaha by saying "it's like a bigger city", or "it has big city feel" or whatever. Well, wake up! That's because it IS, IS a big city!

Ok, I'm done ;).

[Minneapolis Boy]

I agree with you "Streets." That was the one thing in this article (and others) that bothered me.

[HuskerDave]

Scary... I've found something else to agree with Streets about.

[S33]

Scary... I've found something else to agree with Streets about.

In 2004, I might have even found something to agree with him on before he attended Edmond Bacon's School of "How to Live, Sleep, Work, and Play in an Urban Mongolian Bistro".

[Big E]

The Seven Year Thread Revival Pissing Match Itch?

Really, people?

[S33]

The Seven Year Thread Revival Pissing Match Itch?

Really, people?

Yes, I originally had the "itch" to start an off-topic political pissing match in the sports forum, but I see someone beat me to it.  :;):

[NovakOmaha]

Yes, it's a great staple of the Old Market.  I'm sure it's news to many people that the Old Market has been around as long as it has.  So many people seem to think this kind of thing is new to Omaha.

And now my complaint :

I hate it when people say things like this:
"The store is like one found in a bigger city," she said. "There is a nice variety of clothes, and they're items you won't find anywhere else."

Yeah!  Because it's in a big city!  So many people have to qualify any praise they might give to Omaha by saying "it's like a bigger city", or "it has big city feel" or whatever.   Well, wake up!  That's because it IS, IS a big city!

Ok, I'm done ;).

It's all relative.  Cities that are a lot larger than Omaha do have stores, restaurants, and other amenities that Omaha just doesn't have.  Omaha has stores, restaurants, and other amenities that cities smaller than Omaha don't have.  When I'm talking about cities larger than Omaha I mean those with populations of over 2 or 3 million.  Does Omaha have an IKEA?  Nordstroms? Saks? Major league sports? Airline flights to hundreds of destinations? Mountains or an ocean nearby? Light rail? No.  Does Grand Island have <inseert whatever here>?

No?  So what?  

I get Streets point and it's valid.  There is a tendency on the part of some to say <insert whatever here> makes you forget you're in Omaha.  On the other hand, there are some things about Omaha that make some people cringe and say that some Omahans just don't get it.  It's a big city.  

As to the Old Market, I've been going there since the early 70's when it was some head shops, Satan's Pizza and other funky stores.  Way different than today.  It exists because of one person's desire to create it.  Without him I doubt it would be here today, or most likely it would be less than it is.  In the 60's and 70's urban renewal was the catch phrase.  Take a look at the mall of the bluffs.  I could be wrong but I think Omaha voted down an urban renewal project back then.