Apricot Lane Boutique’s Marshall spin-off carries student-inspired selection
Alison Ryan prides herself on knowing what college kids want to wear. She fills her Apricot Lane Boutique franchise with items specifically chosen for her campus clientele. Avery Magee | Asst. Photo Editor
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Apricot Lane Boutique was Alison Ryan’s go-to place for everything fashion for almost a decade. It was her home for going out tops, business casual outfits and everyday essentials.
When the store’s Fayetteville location closed in November 2020, she was devastated. Less than six months later, she decided to leave her job and reopen the store as her own in the exact same location.
“I wanted to return to something that I actually love,” Ryan said.
After four successful years running the store in Fayetteville, Ryan looked to expand to Syracuse. On Aug. 15, Ryan opened her second Apricot Lane franchise, nestled at the front of Marshall Square Mall. The store sells name-brand clothing, catering to college-aged customers.
Now, along with the aroma of Salt City Coffee and Subway along with voices of chatty students running to their next class, Marshall Square Mall is home to trendy clothes for this week’s game day tailgate or date night event.
The Syracuse University sophomore Sophie Miller stumbled upon Apricot Lane’s new location on her first day of classes while using a shortcut through Marshall Square Mall.
What was intended to be a shortcut led to a detour and the purchase of a necklace and cardigan at Apricot Lane. Now, Miller is looking forward to getting her next date night or themed party outfit at the boutique.
“Everything was very on trend, I was super impressed with the brands they carried and the variety they had,” Miller said. “It was almost as if they knew exactly what a college girl wants to wear at school. It was just the type of store I was looking for in Syracuse.”
Besides the same wall colors, branding and company oversight, Ryan said both Apricot Lane locations serve different clientele and carry various brands chosen by the owner.
The most popular items at Apricot Lane Boutique’s Marshall Square Mall location are their orange and blue spirited clothing. Owner Alison Ryan hopes the store becomes students’ go-to place for game days and date nights. Avery Magee | Asst. Photo Editor
Ryan’s Fayetteville location typically serves customers ages 30 to 60, while the new Marshall Square Mall location is aimed at SU students, like Miller.
Apricot Lane’s clothing racks are filled with well-known brands like Just Black Denim, Free People and Hidden Jeans, as well as custom SU-printed apparel, all of which were chosen to fit the campus clientele.
Both Ryan and Giana Coccagnia, a key holder at the Marshall Square Mall location, said they struggled to find clothing that was different from their peers in college, because everyone was shopping at the same stores. They drew from this experience, along with Ryan’s lifelong Syracuse residence, in choosing the brands for the new storefront.
“Being a recent college graduate has definitely helped me recommend clothing to our customers and what we should carry in our inventory, knowing what my peers and I wore and seeing what clothing items could transfer over to the Syracuse clientele,” Coccagnia said.
The store has already sold out of most of their orange and blue school-spirited clothing. These observations about consumer patterns and clothing inventory are exactly what tailor the store to the SU community and student body, Ryan said.
Miller said she’s going to have to avoid visiting the store every day, because she’ll want to keep returning every week to see the store’s new arrivals. Still, she plans to visit often, replacing her online shopping and shipping waitlists with in-person try-ons at Apricot Lane right near class.
Ryan said owning a franchise allowed her to fulfill her dreams of having her own clothing boutique without needing retail experience that she didn’t have. It also allowed her to meet other franchise owners who operate their boutiques in towns like College Station, Texas and Fairfield, Connecticut, who’ve taught her about operating a boutique on a college campus.
The new Marshall Square Mall boutique will continue to fit the needs of SU students and fill the void of reliable, trendy clothing stores near campus.
“There was definitely a need for the college girls to have cute clothes that they could just run over and grab a cute little outfit and be able to have it in their hands right away for that night,” Ryan said.
