Divine Designs relocates retail shop from downtown to Birchwood Mall

FORT GRATIOT — After a brief stint in downtown Port Huron, one retail shop has relocated to Birchwood Mall.

Michele Seib, who also owns Shear Karma Hair Gallery, 3528 Pine Grove Ave., first opened Divine Designs — catering in clothing and other merchandise — in March on Huron Avenue where the former menswear retailer Patrick and James closed months earlier.

Divine Designs manager Jamie Robbel said the store saw some positive feedback downtown and saw a lot of success over Boat Week. By the end of July, however, she said they thought they would fare better joining the roster of shops inside the Fort Gratiot shopping center.

“Downtown, everything closes so early — like the restaurants, some of them close at like 3 (p.m.),” she said of the move. “Other boutiques close down early, and unless it’s 75 (degrees) and beautiful out, there is not really traffic down there. … Downtown was beautiful. I loved it down there. But it just seemed like we weren’t going to do (well) down there once winter and fall comes.”

They opened their new doors at the mall on Monday, put up their banner on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, Robbel said they hoped traffic would pick up as word of the relocation got around.

As it had downtown, Divine Designs featured a variety of women’s and some men’s clothing, jewelry and other merchandise.

“We moved all our stock from downtown to here,” Robbel said, “so we’re looking to probably get more in for back to school” and later as the weather gets colder.

Ahead of their original opening, Seib said her goal had been to offer affordable, casual clothing in a variety of sizes, while supporting the in-person experience of shoppers with brick-and-mortar after seeing a boutique area set up at the front of her salon get interest from customers.

When asked what demographics she thought they catered to, Robbel added, “I like the clothes, and I’m 29. Then, we had a girl here, she loves the clothes, and she’s younger. And then, Michelle is older, so she obviously likes the clothes — she buys it all. So, I think everybody.”

Robbel said they operate around the general hours of the mall’s at 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

“We’re just excited to be part of the mall,” she said, “and I hope our business flourishes here.”

For more information, visit “Divine Designs Downtown” on Facebook.

Contact reporter Jackie Smith at jssmith@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Divine Designs relocates retail shop from downtown to Birchwood Mall