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Buying Into That Beautiful Feeling

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By DAVID SOMMER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - If you should happen to phone one of this community's newest businesses, they will answer with a spirited "Hellooo Beautiful!"

"We have anything, and we have everything," Hello Beautiful's manager, Jeanie "The Princess" Perron, said after the eclectic boutique opened in March in the Dupree Gardens shopping center on Land O' Lakes Boulevard.

The shop features one-of-a-kind items from Cinderella glass slippers to exotic seashell jewelry to daring "club and resort wear." It's the latest project for owner Nancy Smith, an Orlando businesswoman who said she splits her time between a home there and a condominium here.

"It's all about feeling good about yourself, feeling sexy and boosting your self-esteem," Smith said. "Our goal is to help women to be beautiful."

Yes, Hello Beautiful stocks lingerie and 7-inch stiletto heels that will never leave the bedroom. The slogan on the store's sign states: "A sinfully wonderful boutique."

What you will not find at Hello Beautiful are multiple copies of the same item.

Smith, who recently visited Las Vegas to shop at a boutique trade show, stocks one color and one size of most merchandise. Each piece of costume jewelry is handmade and unique, Perron said.

"We try not to get too many of one thing. You don't want to see yourself coming and going" while out wearing a new outfit, she said.

Shoes and sandals, many of which can be worn in public, start at about $20. Dresses start at $30 and go way up. Same for the stiletto pumps, which are about $80 minimum. A colorful seashell necklace can be had for $50.

Perron, who said she ran a boutique at Paradise Lakes Resort for about eight years, can also help women select just the right shade of makeup from the store's Color Me Beautiful collection.

"Our goal is to give the ladies a full range of choices," Perron said while showing off a revealing nightclub dress. "They are wearing next to nothing these days."

So far, the boutique has been popular, Smith and Perron said.

"It's going really well," Smith said. "We've just got to get the Web site up."

The site will just tease, however. Smith said her desire to limit sales of any one item does not allow for the kind of inventory needed for Internet sales.

JUST THE FACTS

WHAT: Hello Beautiful

WHERE: Dupree Gardens shopping center, 5132 Land O' Lakes Blvd.

CALL: (813) 996-4300

HOURS: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday

Reporter David Sommer can be reached at dsommer@tampatrib.com or (727) 815-1087.

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