La Grande Dame owner Arthur Toth Jr. (Photo by Jay Paul)
At some clothing stores, you visit to shop a specific kind of look, a certain kind of aesthetic that one brand or another tries to sell. But for Arthur Toth Jr., 61, and his boutique, La Grande Dame, that couldn’t be further from their goal.
“I don’t just have a particular look in my store, where if you go into [somewhere like a Talbots or a Banana Republic] you’ll see that store really just looks like a certain thing,” Toth says. “They have one point of view, where I have to have several different points of view.”
La Grande Dame — which roughly translates from French to “The Great Lady” — focuses on high-end, plus-sized fashions. The clothing is all bought out of New York City, which is ironic, Toth says, since that city lacks stores like La Grande Dame: “If you go to New York or any major market, there’s not really any homegrown, better, plus-sized apparel stores.”
La Grande Dame offers personal shopping and in-store alterations for its customers, something that’s been important to Toth from the beginning. “I built the business on customer service,” he says. “It’s my favorite thing.”
This year marks the 18th anniversary for La Grande Dame at its current location on Grove Avenue and 26 years since it first opened. Toth is quick to point out that his success didn’t just come from a love of fashion. He worked in retail and marketing in cities including Minneapolis, Chicago and New York, learning the ins and outs of the business before opening his store. “It’s not just about picking out pretty things,” he says.
La Grande Dame has been located on Grove Avenue for 18 years. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Looking Grande
Fashion must-haves from Arthur Toth Jr.
- The perfect black dress
- A crisp white shirt
- A slim black pant
- Great-fitting denim jeans
- A black straight skirt
- A statement piece of jewelry — don’t forget that simple strand of pearls!
