Eye-Catching Clothing

PLANT CITY - Before there was a cash register. Before there was a sales counter. Before even a fraction of the merchandise had arrived: There were customers.

'There's been a lot of curiosity. It's so surreal,' said Nia Ramo, co-owner of downtown Plant City's new boutique for the age 14-to-24 set.

Passers-by began to notice the display of funky tops and flirty skirts taking shape in the front windows at 119 E. Reynolds St. long before Ramo and her partner, Meg Cimino, were ready to ring up the first sale.

For weeks, as the two women scrambled to furnish and decorate the 1,000-square-foot space, prospective shoppers would wander in to admire the eye-catching array of junior wear and accessories Ramo had selected at an Atlanta trade show.

Shopping, she said, is 'the big perk' of her new venture. 'The only thing is, I don't get to take it home.'

Nia Bella's quietly opened its doors without fanfare in August, while the partners and a small volunteer army of family and friends continued wrapping up loose ends and working out the kinks of building a business from the ground up.

The dress rehearsal ends today, however. Thursday is show time, with grand opening festivities set to run through the weekend.

'We have our nervous breakdowns on different days, which works out OK,' said Cimino, who teaches Spanish and coaches the golf team at Plant City High.

Ramo also has a day job as administrative assistant to Hillsborough County's supervisor of elections, Buddy Johnson.

'We both love our jobs and want to keep working,' Ramo said.

They also wanted to go into business together, even though they didn't know exactly what business that might be until a few months ago.

'The idea was born on my mom's back porch,' Ramo said. 'It just happened so quick.'

The pair is deeply rooted in Plant City. Both graduated from Plant City High, seven years apart. They met when Cimino began dating Ramo's brother.

'Family is really, really important to Meg and me. So is the community,' she said.

Ramo, whose maiden name is Jordan, entered the world with the help of a midwife in her family's home on Coronet Road.

Her grandmother, Bonnie Snow, owned two beauty salons in downtown Plant City and still works at one she sold - the Family Hair Affair on Collins Street.

Snow once worked in a salon that occupied the same space on Reynolds Street where her granddaughter has launched Nia Bella's.

Cimino's father also had a downtown business on Reynolds.

'It's so neat,' Cimino said. 'We've had our business license together for a year, and now everything has suddenly come together at this location.'

Ramo and Cimino have little experience in retail but are tuned in to their target customers: young women ages 14 to 24.

Ramo, on the board of the Plant City Junior Woman's Club, is an adviser for the Plant City Juniorettes.

Cimino is surrounded by teenage girls at the high school. In fact, one of her former students, Cherie Bills, manages the store while the owners work at their regular jobs.

'She's scared. But we're all scared,' Cimino said. 'If you're not scared, something's wrong.'

Cimino is used to rolling with the punches life has delivered. After graduating from Plant City in 1985, she went to Auburn University on a golf scholarship.

'I thought I was going to play golf the rest of my life,' she said.

She went pro for a few years. Then came a car accident and life-altering injuries.

'My path changed,' she said.

Two decades later, she is on the path to bringing something new to her hometown.

'We want girls to feel like they can come to Nia's and find something unique, that they don't have to go to Tampa to shop,' Cimino said.

Ramo, the buying half of the partnership, searched for obscure vendors and one-of-a-kind creations to stock the shop.

There is a denim collection from Celebrity Pinks, tank tops with pockets and oh-so-soft cotton-blend T-shirts. There are camouflage shorts with sequined pocket flaps, breezy dresses and accessories Ramo likes to call 'funky junk.'

Jewelry, handbags and whimsical 'Happy Art' wall hangings by Mitzi Dooley round out the inventory.

Autumn Andrews, a longtime friend of Ramo's, accompanied her to Atlanta on her buying trip.

'It was amazing,' she said, opening another box of merchandise. 'There's nothing around here like this shop. It's definitely the place to get something original at a good price that's good quality.'

Stylish comfort - even in plus sizes - is as much a hallmark of Nia Bella's branding as family values.

'We're very Christian-based,' Ramo said. 'Our clothes are real contemporary, really stylish and a lot of fun. But sexy is not something I want a 12- to-14-year-old displaying. This is stuff I would let my daughters wear.'

It is a store made for Plant City, and its owners have set their sights on the ultimate prize: dressing the Florida Strawberry Festival queen and her court.

'There's no reason why we can't put them in something really cute,' Ramo said.

NIA BELLA'S

WHAT: Grand opening

WHEN: Thursday through Saturday

WHERE: 119 E. Reynolds St.

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

PHONE: (813) 659-9709

E-MAIL: niabellas @yahoo.com