OLD TOWN — Mallory Ulaszek has lived in many different places throughout her life, and her newest boutique in Old Town, Roam, exemplifies just that.
Although she's been in the fashion industry just four years, Ulaszek's latest venture, at 1419 N. Wells St., is her third shop.
"Even in my apartments, I move every six to nine months," she said. "I just was never satisfied. That's why we called it Roam, the idea of roaming."
Roam is the merger of the 29-year-old Ulaszek's two previous boutiques, CityBlue Apparel & Denim, which was located directly across the street on Wells, and CB in Lake Forest.
She closed both of those businesses and opened Roam in November.
The shop is closed for the holidays through Wednesday, but once it reopens Roam will be offering discounts of 50-to-75 percent off throughout the month during a winter clearance sale.
The Old Town boutique currently carries some hard-to-find designer clothing that was mostly held over from the other two stores, but come spring, the shop will be outfitted with new designers from New York, Los Angeles and Japan.
"My dad was a sales guy in the '80s and that meant you moved a lot," Ulaszek said. "That translated to college and beyond for me."
The commute between the two was too much, and neither store was getting enough of Ulaszek's personal attention on the floor, she said.
The move to fashion was a big change for Ulaszek, who was working in the corporate world in the midst of the recession in 2009 before she quit her job.
At 24 years old she opened CityBlue Apparel & Denim in Old Town, and in spring 2012 she opened CB in Lake Forest.
"I knew I wasn't going to be satisfied by working for the man," she said.
Now, it's Ulaszek and her dog Dexter who roam the floor of her new boutique daily when she isn't traveling coast-to-coast in search of the latest fashion.
