Museum of Style
Louis Boston
Clothing boutique
Owner: Debi Greenberg
Location: Boston, MA
www.louisboston.com
Built: 1863
Converted: 1988
When the MIT-commissioned New England Museum of Natural History closed in 1947, a famous retailer from New York was quick to capitalize on the stately and prominent building in Boston's Back Bay. The formidable structure housed the Bonwit Teller department store from 1947 until 1988, a period when the previously residential area became more and more commercial.
In the late 1980s, Murray Pearlstein moved his upscale Louis Boston shop into the huge space. Although he attempted to save as much of the original architecture as possible, a major renovation was deemed necessary.
While Pearlstein's daughter, Debi Greenberg, who took over the business, enjoys the unique personality the old building lends the store, she is always concerned about its upkeep. Her next maintenance project will involve reconstructing the eroding sandstone exterior with epoxy.
Advice: "Try to make it as user-friendly as possible, because people may think it's an intimidating atmosphere for a store," Greenberg says.
Reader comments