Continued: School clothes for teens, not tramps

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ZELAZ

Ridgedale Mall, Minnetonka

952-920-1044

www.zelaz.com

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It played out like almost any other back-to-school shopping dialogue:

"I really like these jeans," Alex Pollach, 14, told her mother, Janet Pollach. "They're just so long -- but I can always roll them."

She got no argument from Mom. The two were shopping in Zelaz, Janet Pollach's new Ridgedale boutique. Inspired by the difficulty she had in finding fun, appropriate clothes for Alex as she makes the transition from tween to teen sizes, Pollach carries girls' sizes 8 through 16, juniors sizes 1 through 15 and a few women's sizes.

The store stands alone as an independent, locally owned shop geared toward mixed ages and sizes -- and not geared toward sexual suggestiveness. Unlike mainstream national competitors such as Abercrombie & Fitch, it carries no low-cut tops or pants with a double entendre splashed across the bum.

Pollach personally cut off tags from a shipment of jeans that featured a partially nude woman. Her motto for the shop: "Clothes you love and your mother won't hate," she said. She also looks for reasonable prices (bottoms are $25 to $73 and tops start at $15) and merchandise you won't find everywhere else.

Pollach got the idea for the store about a year ago. While visiting relatives in Oklahoma City, she saw a similar store that carried a variety of teen and preteen clothes, for girls who need to mix between the two size ranges.

"It made such sense for those who are small on the bottom and developed on the top," she said.

Pollach, an executive and leadership coach, decided to switch careers and go into retail. Wasting no time, she opened kiosks in Eden Prairie and Ridgedale in June. She has since closed the Eden Prairie location and moved into a permanent store at Ridgedale.

Clothes and accessories are also available online and at home shopping parties, usually thrown for both mothers and daughters. Zelaz donates 5 percent of all purchases to charities that support programs for girls with fewer resources -- currently the locally based GirlsBEST (Girls Building Economic Success Together).

Alex (short for Alexandra) Pollach is about to enter her freshman year at St. Louis Park High School. She works in the back of the store, checking in and steaming inventory, and wields some influence when she goes to market with her mom.

"She understands what girls want in terms of style and what they don't want to look like," Janet Pollach said. Alex's name served as the basis for the store name. It's Alex backwards, swapping out the "x" for a "z."

Look for more Zelaz stores in the future. Pollach's ultimate goal is to go national. So, Limited Too -- watch your racks.

Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177

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