01940 Winter 2021_Reduced

WINTER 2021 | 23
There has been no shortage of
challenges and adversity during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Jamie Sloan, the
owner of Sanctum Style, an upscale men's and
women's boutique at MarketStreet Lynnfield,
her challenges began long before the words
COVID-19, coronavirus, pivot and protocol,
and the acronyms PPP and PPE became
everyday parts of our pandemic vocabulary.
Sloan and her husband, Ryan McCarthy,
had recently moved back to Massachusetts
after living in New York City, where she was a
jack of all trades, working in fashion and dabbling
in the performing arts as a playwright,
opera singer and actor.
In the fall of 2017, Sloan opened Dani
Kaye, a small boutique-specialty store on
Main Street in North Andover. The name was
inspired in part by her experience in opera.
"You know if you have your name in the
title, you are going to die, so there was no
way I wanted my store named after me," she
said with a laugh. "I also like the fact that the
Biblical name Daniel refers to God being
your judge and the word Kaye in Celtic means
keeper of the keys. I feel it's important that
you not get hung up on what people think you
should be. You have to own who you are and
be willing to take risks."
Sloan slowly built a solid customer base.
Approximately seven months after opening,
everything came to a halt on Sept. 13, 2018
when the Columbia Gas Company explosions
literally rocked not only her business, but her
home life as well.
"I was in the store and then went out for
lunch and saw all these people on the street,"
Sloan said. "Flames were shooting out of the
Chowder Factory building. I scrambled to turn
off all the valves before we had to evacuate not
just the store, but our apartment. We literally
had 10 minutes to get our stuff out. We were
freaking out because we didn't know if there
would be smash-and-grab looting. It was terrible.
The stench of smoke was everywhere."
The following week, Sloan was in New
York City on a pre-planned spring buying trip.
"I think I cried the whole time I was
there and was just a mess through the whole
show," Sloan said. "I had no idea if I still had
a business. My clients had lost their homes. It
was really scary. We had a long battle with the
adjusters and problems with our landlord. It
was just a disaster."
Despite the adversity, Sloan managed to
find a silver lining. She hit the road, bringing
her product to her clientele. When she saw
unmet demand for protective masks, she
organized a group of sewers to make masks.
All told, she sold more than 200,000.
"We met regularly at Dunkin' Donuts
to organize and it got to the point where fire
departments, nurses, people just wanted any
kind of mask they could find," Sloan said.
"It was such a wild time, but I needed to pay
my bills and people needed masks, so I drove
everywhere picking up and delivering. It got
to the point where Ryan said, 'Can you just
please come home?'"
Sloan made the painful decision to walk
away from Dani Kaye when her lease expired
in July 2019.
"We just packed everything up and left,"
she said. "It was horrible. I was heartbroken.
I looked at other spaces but I wasn't going
to sign another lease in a pandemic without
a vaccine. I was also concerned about the
fact that cold weather was coming and I just
couldn't take on that risk."
As things began to settle down, Sloan
entertained thoughts of opening a popup at
MarketStreet. She took the plunge with a
full storefront, opening over the Labor Day
weekend.
"It's remarkable that I was the first of eight
new businesses opening this fall," Sloan said.
"I feel that a smaller business, we're leaner and
we can pivot easier and quicker than larger
retailers. It's great to see so many people taking
advantage of so many opportunities."
So far, so good, she says.
"Business has been good, so I can't
complain," said Sloan, a Swampscott native.
"People are still discovering us, but I have
a great group of customers from my North
Andover store and they are so loyal so they are
finding me. This location has turned out to be
an ideal location for my business. Being able to
open here has been a huge win for us."
Sloan describes Sanctum Style as an upscale
boutique offering a multi-designer assortment
and the latest in fashion trends. Sloan said its
assortment is inspired by her love of fashion and
contemporary-city style. Notable brands include
Frame and Paige Denim in both men’s and
women’s styles; Vince, Faherty, Rails, and ATM
Anthony Thomas Melillo for men; and Good
American, Misa Los Angeles, Ramy Brook,
and Jonathan Simkhai for women.
Sloan said a sanctum is defined as “a sacred
and holy place where one is free from intrusion”
and that is exactly what her Sanctum
Style provides her clients.
"Created as a special place to discover not
only what is new and current, Sanctum Style
seeks to enhance and transform one’s personal
style," said Sloan, who describes her style as
"cosmopolitan" with an emphasis on upscale
casual. "We cater to a lot of people in banking,
real estate, people who generally are more professional,
more conservative, but we also have a
lot of moms who want functional wardrobes."
The store provides a personalized-shopping
service with knowledgeable stylists on
hand to work one-on-one with guests. Personal
shopping appointments are also available
to book online (www.sanctumstyle.com | @
sanctumstyle).
Sloan is no stranger to the world of luxury
fashion and fine jewelry. She worked for
more than a decade for several top retailers
including Barneys New York, John Hardy
and David Yurman at Saks 5th Avenue and
Bloomingdale’s 59th Street, as well as Tiffany
& Company on 5th Avenue. A self-proclaimed
anti-fashion fashionista, she said she
developed her no-nonsense style philosophy
from her experience as an opera singer in New
York City, as well as her experience working in
high fashion.
"I just kind of fell into luxury retailing
when I was running around the city performing
and I had clients who needed wardrobe
help, like I did," she said. "It was a matter of
being able to always be ready while carrying
around as little as you could."
Sloan grew up in Marblehead, spending
significant time in the family business, Sloan
Machinery in Lynn (now in New Hampshire).
She moved to Andover when she was
a teenager, graduating from Andover High
School. She studied voice and music at New
England Conservatory of Music where she
sang in the choir. She graduated from McGill
University in Montreal with a degree in vocal
performance.
Some time after graduating, she moved
to New York City. Her first "real job" was at
Columbia Artist Management, where she met
her husband.
Sloan said she is encouraging people to
start their holiday shopping early and also to
shop local.
"I've been telling people to get on your
shopping early as the supply-chain problems
are real," Sloan said. "For me, being in a small
specialty market, I feel I have a small competitive
edge compared to the larger chain-style
stores. You will get customer service and also
do your happy dance as this is the perfect
opportunity to reconnect in their community.
"I don't say we sell product; we sell
experiences, the moments when you wear that
special piece at a special occasion. COVID
took much of that away from us. I view my
business as being facilitators to help people
make those moments and memories. We've
created a space, a refuge for people to escape
and for people to play. For me the best thing
has been being able to have my clients say,
'Can I give you a hug?' I'll never refuse a hug.
Not with all that's gone on.'"