A room that left Detroit 100 years ago lives on through Rachel Lutz’s Peacock Room

The fatal shooting of a teenager at a protest in Seattle has gone unsolved for six years. This is open in your face. How are there no answers? Our investigation has uncovered new evidence and witnesses who say they've never talked to police. Did police ever call you? Not once. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series on the Embedded podcast from NPR. Casting from Detroit's Cast Corridor, it's the Metro on WDET. I'm Tia Graham. This hour, the room that left Detroit 100 years ago lives on today with a local small business owner. A little backstory. In 1876 and 1877, Harmony in blue and gold, the peacock room, was completed by artist James McNeill Whistler. It was originally a dining room in the London home with Friedrich Richards Leland, a wealthy shipowner from Liverpool, England. The room was to house Leland's priceless Chinese blue and white porcelain. But while Leland was away, the room became a fresh canvas. Whistler covered the ceiling with imitation gold leaf and peacock feathers, gilded the shelving, and painted peacocks across the shutters. Leland was infuriated, and the two men feuded over the work and the bill for the rest of their lives. It remained intact in Leland's home until his death in 1892. In comes Charles Langfrier, a Detroit railroad car manufacturer. He was an avid collector of Asian and Middle Eastern artworks and bought the Peacock Room. In its entirety, panel by panel, he had it shipped here to his home on East Ferry Avenue in 2004. It remained in Detroit until 1919. The room is preserved right now in its entirety in the Freer Gallery at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art. In Rachel Lutz's retail shop, the Peacock Room pays homage to Charles Lang Freer's vision of collecting the room Detroit lost. Located in the Park Shelton and Fisher buildings, Lutz has curated her space like galleries, displaying garments and accessories like objects in a museum. In The New York Times, just named the Peacock Room one of its 25 favorite clothing stores in the entire country. This fall, the Peacock Room Antiques Studio opens in Park Shelton, which will be an event-driven destination for collecting education and community. Owner, Rachel Lutz, joins us now to talk more about continuing in Freer's footsteps. Rachel, welcome back to the Metro. Thanks so much for having me. This is exciting. This is exciting. And to have you here at a time where you're getting spotlighted, you have a spotlight on you, the New York Times named the Peacock Room, one of its 25 favorite clothing stores in the entire country. Where were you when you found out? Who were you with?

Gosh, who was I with? Wow, first question I can't quite recall. I got an email, which is hilarious because I'm usually like drowning in emails. And, you know, I just saw this email from the New York Times. I'm like, oh, man, is my subscription due? And I clicked on it. And I had to like Google the reporter. I'm like, is this a real thing? I was very, very excited. So of course, I called my mother and I called, you know, my close friends. I had to keep it, you know, kind of under wraps at the time because I didn't know 100% that, you know, we were going to be published. As you know, like, you never know what ends up in print or when. So they had to submit some photographs. I did a video tour with the reporter so that they could actually, quote, unquote, see the store, you know, probably to make sure we're not like some online fast fashion thing. Because nowadays before anybody, you know, buys anything, you have to like check things out. So no. It was legit, and I was very, very honored, especially because I don't consider myself a, quote, fashion person. And we had been in the New York Times, we had been in the New York Times before a few times, but not in the style section. Yeah. So. Yeah, I was very, very grateful. Someone had, you know, nominated us or maybe a few people had nominated us. And they went through hundreds of submissions. And 25 made the list. And Detroit is on it, not just the peacock room, but Detroit is on the list. So take that New York. Why do you think a Detroit shop made the list alongside stores and shops in major cities like L.A. or New York? You just said, you know, stick it to New York. Yeah. I mean, it was also exciting to see an Ann Arbor shop on the list. So. I think that there are great small businesses all over this country. And clothing shopping has changed a lot over the last, you know, several years. Retail in general has changed a lot over the last several years. It was great to know that the New York Times felt it was important to not just highlight, you know, these big fancy designers and these major chain stores. But really, like, where you find fashion is everywhere. Fashion is... Out on the street, fashion is in your own closet, fashion is in your mind. So it's great that they wanted to focus on these smaller retailers and to acknowledge the role that we play in the fashion scene. And...

I won't just say that Detroit is a fashion capital. It always has been. Agreed. I mean, there's style everywhere you turn on the street. And I've been known to catcall people from my car. I will roll down my window. I did it yesterday. And this woman was wearing this, like, really fun print. And I just was like, you look amazing. And she's like, thanks, girl. You know, you see men walking down the street, especially on Sundays and their three-piece suits, and you can't help. It be like, you look sharp as a tech. So, yeah, please cat-call people. Cat-call people in a positive way when you see them wearing something cool. And it's all over Detroit, and it's all over, you know, really every town. If you know where to look, you will find fashion. So it was thrilling to see our name on the list. Yes. I... Similarly, I literally did it like two weeks ago. I saw a woman in a beautiful yellow dress. It was so beautiful. So I slowed down, rolled my window down, and I screamed, I love your dress. And she just waved back and said, thank you. And I feel the same way when you have something kind to say to someone, excuse me, you want to make sure that you let them know. You got to acknowledge it. Yeah. You really need to acknowledge it and you need to encourage people to keep on doing their thing. And, you know, when you were seeing that woman in that dress, she was giving you some dopamine. So, yeah, you've got to keep that going for sure. And I think that that's another reason why I love giving people compliments like that because you want to give them that encouragement. And people come in the store all the time. They're like, I love this. where would I wear it? And I say, on your body, like, that's where you wear it. So you really want to encourage people like every day is a special occasion for sure. It really is. Now, you're getting all choked up thinking about how amazing that woman looked in the yellow dress. I am. Thank you so much for that. But has the news of the New York Times listing increase foot traffic? Yeah, I would definitely say so. We've had people coming in the shop. We've had a lot of tourists in the shop. I guess they, you know, before you go to like a big city you've never been to, you want to look at, you know, city guides or shopping guides. So we've had a lot of people mention that they have, that they have seen the New York Times list that we were on. So it's been, it's a huge boost for a small business. Anytime you get like that national coverage. And New York Times style section is kind of international coverage. really, really a huge boost to a small business. I found so many tips, not just for food, but fashion too. I always look for the recipes too, but the fashion and just finding simple pieces that could work together. Honestly, the New York Times has been a, I haven't sent it sometimes when I'm looking for an outfit to put together. Now, Before you owned the Peacock Room, you were a journalist. I was a pretend budding journalist. So when I was 16 years old, I interned in this news department. I've always, yeah, go ahead. This news department, meaning WDET's news department. And at the time, this was so many years ago, Jerome Vaughn was the news director. And, you know, I think Jerome Vaughn is still.

the news director. So we just had a little reunion in the green room and it was exciting. But I've always loved storytelling. I've always been fascinated by the questions, not the answers. So I've always, you know, been drawn to journalism. I always, I think it's very important. I think that we're very lucky to live in a place that has a free press and to understand what that really means. And in a way, I'm still kind of storytelling. but I'm storytelling about the finds in the shop and my adventures when I source things. So I've really used that in my background and also just with our social media, you know, getting word out about why I picked what I picked or what we have and the reasoning behind things and the story of how things were made or how I found them. I just love that. Why do you think that's so important, Rachel, to build these stories and to build a space that holds these stories. Otherwise, it's just stuff on a shelf. You may as well be at, you know, a major retailer that doesn't really come face to face with its customers. I'm not going to name names of these big corporations, but, you know, you see them at the mall. And nowadays, my gosh, storytelling is even more important as we go into the age of AI, the dawn of AI. Some of these websites that people are shopping on are not. They're fake storytelling. Like, oh, this was made from Norwegian sheep in the mountain. And it's got the picture of the mother and daughter that wove the sweater. And you're like, Why is this showing up in a plastic bag with a barcode on it from overseas? So I think people crave that realness now more. They crave the story behind something. And not everything in the peacock room is handmade by artisans, you know, but things are vetted for the labor conditions that they're made under. Things are vetted for the materials. You know, I don't shop online. I shop with my fingertips in my eyes, meeting with companies going. to trade shows. And I think that that editing process is really what people want. I think that we're seeing this boomerang effect back into brick and mortar stores because people want to touch things. They want to know what they're walking out with. They want to know the community that they're supporting when they buy something. And we're becoming more detached from that process online. And I think that we're seeing that pendulum swinging back into boutique. again. I mean, I agree as a shopper myself. I shop a lot less online for clothing than I used to in recent years. Past years, I do a lot of thrifting or just try to find things that are, you know, second lives because it's overwhelming. It's overwhelming. Yeah, and also they used to make things, more things that could last a second life with this disposable fast fashion. You buy it. Maybe it's like a dress for $12. I'm not going to tell you about the labor conditions that you are supporting. But those things are full of hormone disruptors and carcinogens. And not only that, but they just don't look great. They're not tailored nicely. The fabric isn't good. It doesn't lay right. Those seams are all crooked. We're not going to say anything when you see you at that baby shower, but we know you got that on Sheehan. But things used to buy a dress, and it could last you 10 years. You could wash.

it again and again or clean it, you know. So those are the pieces that I look for. I look for those pieces that you can get, you know, that second life out of. Eventually it will end up secondhand because it's still standing. And a lot of these new, these newly produced pieces that you see in the mass market just don't do that for you anymore. Not at all. Not at all. No, ma'am. This is the Metro. I'm Tia Graham. We're talking about the Peacock Room, making the New York Times 25 favorite clothing stores list in the country. Our guest is the founder and owner of the peacock room in Detroit, Rachel Lutz. Now. Rachel, the New York Times recognition is a big deal for you, like you said, and recognition for the peacock room itself. Have you been waiting for validation of this level or have you already been affirmed in what you've been able to create and build with the peacock room? That's a heavy question for not even 1130 in the morning, but that's a really great question. I definitely have a bit of imposter syndrome. I don't consider myself like in the quote fashion industry. I don't like the fashion industry. I don't like shopping. And I'm going to clarify and say, I don't like what the shopping process has become. When in the 1900s, when I was working my way through Wayne State University, I worked at Nordstrom and I worked alongside ladies who retired after decades of service at Jacobson's and Hudson's. And those ladies taught me a lot. And that to me, that's the only. quote unquote fashion industry exposure I had, but they taught me how to, quote, dress people. You used to be able to go into a store and there was someone to actually help you. Sometimes when we offer people service in the shop, it's like a foreign concept to them. And they're like, what do you mean you want to pull things from the racks for me? Like, what is that? And I know Mr. Hudson would be rolling in his grave. But I've... never really, as a plus size woman, too, I've never really felt like a part of the fashion industry when I was growing up. I did not see women who look like me in fashion magazines, you know, with like a fuller figure, a big nose, you know, not wearing heavy cosmetics. And you still have to dress. You still have to wear something. Exactly. So I really learned fashion from the angle of good design, good fabrics. My mom used to love to collect vintage and antique textile, so I knew what good things felt like. And I think that I kind of experienced in the 1990s, I experienced that switchover.

from like union-made American clothing to a lot of imported stuff that just didn't feel as good. And don't me wrong. Like there's some stuff made in the USA that is not good. And there are some great factories overseas. It's just knowing what's what. But I've never really, I didn't like reading fashion magazines when I was younger because I didn't see myself reflected. And also the fashion industry is. built on exploiting the insecurities of especially women to consume and to teach you that you're inadequate and you need to consume things and buy things to feel better about yourself and that is something I have never been on board with. So to get something like validation within the fashion community. It does mean a lot. Not that I did this for anybody's validation or approval, but I just did what was in my gut. My background is more in history, architecture, design, historic preservation, the arts. Those are all things that you can apply when dressing somebody. You're looking for the same thing that you would apply in designing a space. You look at proportion, form, color, detail. All those things come into play. You're just doing it on a human form. So I didn't do it for validation, but I got to say it feels really nice coming from the New York Times style section that they see what I've built, that they see what we have in Detroit. And it is something different. It's not your typical shopping experience. So, yeah, it does feel pretty great to get validation within that professional community. My mom and I say to each other all the time, fashion is art. Fashion is art. Now, you were talking about your background a little bit, you know, historic preservation and storytelling and just making sure that you're preserving history. Once again. As you very well know in 1904, Charles M. Freer bought the original peacock room created by James McNeill Whistler in its entirety, shipped it to Detroit. Freer then donated his entire collection to the Smithsonian upon his death, and the peacock room stood here in Detroit until 1919. The collection went on to form the country's first national art museum and the first Asian art museum. What drew you to this story and what gave you inspiration to design your shop around? The peacock room. I was so excited. I think it was a couple months ago you did a story in depth on the peacock room when the head of the freer came and lectured and I devoured that interview. It was so great. Thank you. And it's so I originally picked the peacock room because I wanted a Detroit historical reference. The peacock room kind of fit because, well, I learned about it years ago when I had my appreciating art in Detroit class with Dr. Jim Totus at Wayne State. And that's when I first learned about the peacock room. And the name of it, like a peacock is showy. We're definitely not for people who want to be invisible when they walk in a room. And room, it feels like an intimate space. It's not like Bob's warehouse of fashion. So it felt like you're going into someone's parlor. And I knew about Freer and I knew about the peacock room. I didn't fully understand how much more it clicked with me until after, until years after, really.

So I wanted to bring attention to the real peacock room. And excitingly, I actually hosted recently a group of over 20 docents from the Freer Museum in Washington, D.C., in the Smithsonian. I toured them around town. And I... Maybe I should save this story from when we're talking about the antique studio. But anyway, I really felt like the more I learned about Freer, the more appropriate it felt. Freer did not collect things that other people were collecting at the time. He did not follow the popular fashion. He was a gilded age, you know, moneyed guy that he just, he. collected what he loved and he didn't listen to what everyone else on the scene was doing. And he came into, for example, like Japan, Korea, China, Egypt, Syria at the time. And, you know, he'd go to Japan and say, please teach me about tea ceremonies because I want to learn more about this teacup. And the colors remind me of the sunset. He came as a humble student of those cultures. He came into a space that was unfamiliar to him and just listened and learned. And The more I learn about freer, the more I realize, like, you know, we are all collectors. We are all students. And, you know, when it comes to dressing ourselves, there are a lot of us who are like, I don't know what I'm doing. And I'm one of those people. And like, I love the idea that it's kind of, he kind of democratized, you know, collecting at the time. And it was, it was so him that at the time. His collection was rejected by the Smithsonian. They're like, what is this weird stuff? This is, and President Teddy Roosevelt had to intervene and was like, no, this is significant. And you need to stop and you need to accept this gift. So I feel like that's kind of how I feel about what we wear. Like, you may want validation from others. You may not care. But I want people to wear what they love and what resonates with them and expresses their creativity. This is the Metro. I'm Tia Graham. My guest is Rachel Lutz, owner of the Peacock Room, one of the New York Times 25 favorite clothing stores in the country. When we return, Rachel has learned, we'll learn what Rachel has learned about Detroit retail since opening shop in 2011 and the new venture bringing her closer to Charles Lang Freer's vision of collecting art. You all stay right there. This is the Metro.

This is The Metro. I'm Tia Graham. We're speaking with Rachel Lutz, owner of the Peacock Room, located in the Park Shelton and Fisher Buildings in Detroit. The New York Times just named the Peacock Room one of its 25 favorite clothing stores in the entire country. And this fall, the Peacock Room Antiques Studio opens in the Park Shelton, which will be an event-driven destination for collecting education and community. Now, Rachel, have you visited the peacock room? I have. I grew up seeing pictures of it. It's just not the same. You really have to go see the actual peacock room in the Smithsonian in D.C. What did you bring back with you when you visit it? I mean, tears, like memories. I didn't, I mean, I didn't bring back anything other than just the memory being immersed in that room. And it is just so spectacular. I mean, it's, it's truly one of the most beautiful spaces I've ever physically been in. And the photos do not do it justice. I mean, I can only imagine just being in that time and space in the late 1800 when he's building this and curating this from his mind. And the original owner hated it. Hated it. In fact, you asked what I brought back. I did steal the and irons from the fireplace that look like sunflowers. Don't tell the Smithsonian in that. I stuck them in my purse. Yeah, so like the real, like look it up. Look at the real story of the peacock room. Whistler and his patron, they like butted heads and there was high drama. Some filmmaker needs to do a story on the creation of the peacock room. And what I heard was the only reason it actually survived is because. There was a carpenter, I think his name was Hyde, and he was working on, wait, it was either Jekyll or Hyde. Was it Jekyll? Wait. You're right. I believe it was Jekyll. Okay, okay, okay. So there was a carpenter that worked on the room, and they built it on these kind of floating panels. Had they not done that, had they painted directly onto plaster or what have you, they wouldn't have been able to dismantle the room and ship it across the ocean. So the only, it was all just very serendipitous. I mean, it was like the perfect alignment of circumstances. But yeah, the room, it kind of remained unfinished and, you know, there was fighting over money. And I heard that, I heard all, there are so many stories and so much lore around the peacock room. But yeah, it was fascinating. So there's not that much drama in my store. It's not like say yes to the dress where there's like a committee of mother-in-laws and neighbors who are like, you're like terrible in that. But there are some positive high drama moments in the peacock room in Detroit where it kind of reminds me of like, oh, we're kind of fulfilling the vision of the actual peacock room. I know. Once again, like you said, that needs to be a movie. It does need to be a movie because just even. having his patron away and he's hosting folks in the- Throwing parties. They're throwing parties in the peacock room. Ordering champagne on his tab. Yeah, just deliver it to the house. It was amazing. It was amazing. So I would love to see that in film. But once again, you've been in business since 2011. And over the last decade or so, what have you noticed about Detroit's retail landscape? How has it evolved?

Oh, man, we've lost some amazing shops over the years. When I was first starting, we had like Tulani Rose, which was right around the corner. Source booksellers was, you know, in a different location. They are still around. I still buy books there. But there are so many great shops that aren't there anymore. Offen River, who was in the space that I was in, in the Park Shelton before me, she moved up the street and she, I, yeah. So there were so many great shops that really. were so Detroit. There was this shop called Little Things, even when I was like a teenager in Greek town. You hear about these stores, and they really kind of kept, they were like the zeitgeist of the time. And so not to start on like a negative note, but yeah, we've lost some really great shops. And we say buy local or buy buy local. So the Amazonification of shopping has really caused some casualties, not just in, terms of places to shop but like cultural sources cultural institutions in the city and in neighborhoods all across this country so yeah back in the day in 2011 um i was i was told like why would you open a store in detroit is there a market yeah there's an underserved market in Detroit. Even at the time in 2010, I think the DEGC, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, did a study on retail bleed outside of Detroit. So the money that Detroiters spend outside the city, and I think at that time it was like $100 million on groceries, on groceries. $310 million on clothing. So to say that Detroiters don't have spending power or there's no market here, well, that's cool. Leave the business to the rest of us because Detroiters have money and they're spending it, but they're spending it outside the city in the burbs or online. I'm sure I'd be curious to see a new study done. That was, like I said, 2010. But that really encouraged me to, you know, serve the market. And I lived in the city since the 90s, and I felt like we had some great clothing boutiques, but we didn't have enough of them. We didn't have a lot of places that serve sizes zero to 22. Like we do, didn't have a lot of places with a wide range of. prices that were accessible to everybody. So, yeah, that's what the, and retail in general, to answer your question, it's changed so much in the last 15 years. Proximity of shops, you know, connected to one another, do you see the distance? in between the shops and spaces like if there's not a business district or a shopping district per se in the city of Detroit we can talk about the avenue of fashion and we could talk about other spaces but

Other than that, there aren't many spaces where you can just walk around and shop in a city of Detroit. Do you see that as a hindrance for the retail space? Yes, that is a very astute observation of Detroit's retail because we are scattered. A lot of us, you go to some areas, you know, like Sagittuck or The Miracle Mile on Chicago, like there's a clustering. And because of how we have laid out the topography of our city, especially downtown with all those parking lots, you park and you have to walk like eight blocks to go to maybe a couple stores. So one thing that drew me to the Park Shelton and the Fisher Building was they were little ecosystems of, okay, there's residents, there's shops, there's restaurants. Now even in the Park Shelton, there are no other retail stores. There used to be a T-shirt shop and a coffee shop that sold jewelry. in a braw shop and us and now it's we're like the last retail standing in the park shilton i want new neighbors um one thing that drew me to the fisher building we have some great retail neighbors in the fisher building so we have like a hair salon mg studio across the street we have or across the hallway we have pure detroit we have you know mature for men like so But back in the day, it wasn't just the ground floor of the Fisher building. It was the two mezzanine levels that also had boutique. So that density, we need these districts like the Avenue of fashion. It's really hard for, to convince people to come down for like a shop or two and get back in their car, park four times, go to four different neighborhoods for, you know, what they're looking for. So I hope as retail fills in, I hope that we fill in clusters. That's what I would like to see. I mean, as a shopper once again, I would love to see that, just a space where I can park and go to just multiple shops in one stop. It would just make everything a lot easier. So what do you want to see come within Detroit's retail space that's still missing? Oh, everything. So much. I mean, my gosh, if there was a shoe store in our building, if there was a tailor shop in our building, yeah, I see the pain in your eyes, Tia. Yeah, I really, really am missing shoe stores. I'm missing shoe stores. And those are industries that have been really challenged. Like Zappos put out a lot of shoe boutiques. You know, tailor shops, it's a very skilled profession. So there are not as many tailor shops in the area. It really. I mean, even Detroit's store fixture, that's a hundred and forty plus year old business. I think what's keeping them alive right now is cannabis shops. So really like the whole landscape has changed and every, I think almost everything, if there's a passionate store owner out there who can, you know, curate a great collection, I definitely want them to consider opening up shop in Detroit. And we kind of need everything. I mean, what is your answer to that? I'm going to ask you. Me, like what shops do I think we're missing or what spaces do I think? Like you said a shoe store desperately would love a shoe store, haven't found one of those in a long, long time. And then as well, I think we are just, for me, it's just that, that.

business square. That's just the biggest thing that's missing for me. The clustering. At the clustering of shops in one space in one area that's walkable that we can actually all sit down and enjoy. So like Eastern Market. Eastern Market has a nice little density of shops. You have savvy chic. You have DeVries. You have some great little boutiques. But yeah, more of that, please, more clustering. And non-traditional retail. So. Retail is really evolving, and it's not just, like I said in the beginning, stuff on a shelf anymore. Retail experiences can be found in different types of businesses, like maybe not even a store itself, but maybe in a hotel boutique or, you know, there's some really creative things going on, like galleries experimenting with different models. That's what we're going to try to do with our antique studio. I know we're going to talk about that a little bit, but. That was one of those ideas of like we need to think beyond the traditional brick and mortar. Now, we are watching stores, retail stores, line Woodward in full force. We're seeing H&M. We're seeing the Apple Store. We're seeing the return of Hudson and Aldo and so many other spaces right now. In your opinion, is this a good sign that retail is slowly returning to Detroit? Hmm. My question is always, how long are they going to stick around? I hate to, you know, be pessimistic, but I've seen a lot of things open over the years and I've seen a lot of things close. So are we attracting businesses that have a market here, a sustainable market? I gotta say, I'm glad that the city of Detroit now has like a retail guru. And I heard that he is responsible for bringing stores like Fenty to the city. I'm thinking like that to me, like that's a great, you know, we have a great, you know, bra boutique like busted. But, you know, in terms of major retailers, that store serves a variety of sizes. It serves, you know, it's not like just basics. It's interesting things. So. We need those stores that like Detroiters need to see. There are these big box retail. Great. It's like every other city. I really want to see unique things open. Maybe they are a canary in the coal mine. But, I mean, we've already had John Varvados come and go. We've had aloe come and go. You know, so I'd say that we want to attract things that are going to stay as long as they can. And if they're staying, that means that they're serving the community need. So there's some cool stuff that opened up. And, you know, it's like a nice little fanfare. But. Are those places that Detroit really needs and are they serving a true market? And not just downtown. Are they in the neighborhoods? Are they serving the neighborhoods? That's one of my, you know, questions to a lot of small business owners in general or just business owners when we talk about the landscape of Detroit retail. Detroit is always, I'm not going to say always, but in recent years in the past decade or so, a lot of the big box stores have avoided the city of Detroit in pretty full force. The largest one is the grocery chain.

Whole Foods, which is in Midtown. You know, I remember before Whole Foods opened and everyone's like, no one's going to shop there. It's only for like the bougiest of people. And like you go in Whole Foods and everybody shops there. I personally don't because it's now owned by Amazon. But, you know, I do think that it is, it is a sign of health, of retail health. And yeah, they've stuck it out. I mean, Whole Foods is definitely serving their market in the city. So I do think that some of these big retailers, it's, you know, kind of like what you said about the New York Times, it's kind of validation in a way that there is a desire to come into this market. And. We've established you've been open since 2011. Like many shops on Woodward, you endured the construction of the Q-Line. I did. I was told it'll directly impact you for six months, and it was about three years of direct impact. So, yeah, if you ever know of a district that's going through construction, I want everyone listening to make an intentional effort to go and support those restaurants, those shops. We're about to do some videos to promote Greek town. My goodness. merchants have had a real tough time and the you know the feedback they always get as well once it's done it's going to be great for you and yet that's if you make it that long I mean we really had it tough so if you see orange barrels anywhere I want you to like stop thinking about it's going to be really annoying to get to that door and like make an intentional effort to get to that door because you want those businesses in that district there after the construction project is done This is the Metro. I'm Tia Graham. We're talking about the Peacock Room, making the New York Times 25 favorite clothing stores list in the country. Our guest is the founder and owner of the peacock room in Detroit, Rachel Lutz. When we return, we'll continue our conversation with Ms. Rachel Lutz, and we'll learn about what's next for the peacock room and a new venture. She's opening up this fall. You all stay right there. We'll be right back. This is the Metro.

This is the Metro. I'm Tia Graham. We're speaking with Rachel Lutz, owner of the Peacock Room, located in the Park Shelton and Fisher buildings in Detroit. The New York Times recently named the Peacock Room one of its 25 favorite clothing stores in the entire country. And this fall, the Peacock Room Antique Studio opens in the Park Shelton, which will be an... events-driven destination for collecting education and community. Now, Rachel, when we left off, we were talking a little bit about the evolution of the retail space here in the city of Detroit, some of the things that we have lost and some of the things that we would like to see, having grown up in and around the city of Detroit as a fourth generation business owner, following in your parents' footsteps operating a space in the Fisher building. You've understood what the ebbs and flows of this retail space has been. What do you tell someone opening their first storefront in the city of Detroit in 2026? Start small. I mean, I started small. I think sometimes, you know, we get razzled dazzled by a lot of these business contests of like, you could win, you know, tens of thousands of dollars to open. I started by maxing out a $1,500 credit card. And again, not knowing anything about like, you know, having a store. I did work for a small boutique, like a family-owned boutique, not my family, but I did get like a front row seat to watching someone run a store. But when I had my idea, I wanted a store in the neighborhood. I didn't know what it would sell and that's usually a big part of a business plan. So I started actually just thrifting. I went to estate sales. I went to thrift stores working at Nordstrom. I kind of knew how to identify like, you know, higher-end fabric so I could go down a rack and pull something like, oh, this looks good. And I started out without a storefront. I started with just a series of pop-ups. And a pop-up was like... Hey, Thursday after work from 5 to 8 o'clock, I'm going to be set up with a couple racks at Savishik in Eastern Market or in the carriage house at the Inn on Ferry Street. And I did five of those. And every show I did, I gained, you know, new people who were like, oh, I'm excited when you actually open a real store and keep us posted. And I started building up my social media, my Facebook page at the time. I wasn't even on Instagram. And... I just remember, you know, every time I'd have an event, I would pay down the credit card a little bit, get some new things, buy another box of 100 matching hangers. That was like a big deal. Like, it was resale. I started as resale, but I presented it like a boutique. I have a friend, Jedana at Margo and Max. She's, same thing. Like, she's a resale shop, but you go in and it really looks like a boutique, and she has to convince people. Like, no, this is resale. And I loved the sustainability of it. I loved taking things that still had a life in them and still had usefulness and passing them on. So I started small. And I hope that anyone out there listening who wants to do something like this, like you don't need to win a business contest. You don't need a trust fund. Sometimes you just need some prayers and a credit card. And before I opened my brick and mortar, I had a dear family friend who gave me a small.

interest-free loan so that I didn't open as a resale shop. I opened as a boutique that had both new things and like, you know, oh, we've got some consignment in the corner. And we eventually just phased that out because we grew so fast and there was such a demand for new clothing. We still carry some of the vintage and antique, but for the most part, it's just, it's vintage inspired because there are some timeless styles. And people sometimes are like, is this all vintage? And I'm like, no, that's why we have. 12 of the same piece in different sizes. But I've always, you know, gotten inspiration from those classic ones. So for someone who wants to open their own store, if they are passionate about it and they are able to just kind of scrap it together, there's, you know, that saying you've got to make away from no way, you can do that with a store. a store where you're talking about non-traditional retail, you can exist just as a pop-up. You don't need a physical storefront anymore. One thing that I will say, though, is try to not do this whole, like, oh, we're online only. By the time you pay to promote your presence online, you're in a sea of competitors. And you may as, you're probably going to pay monthly what you pay for a retail storefront in a neighborhood. So you may as well just be in the neighborhood. Good advice, great advice for those who are listening. Pass that message on. Pass it on. So Rachel, the Peacock Room Antiques Studio, opening up this fall. You have announced the opening of this new venture, and in your words, this room will allow people to gather, learn, share stories, share their collections, and discover pieces that will be treasured for years to come. What are you imagining for the space and where do you see yourself fitting in Detroit's arts community? Oh, wow. In the arts community, I'm humble enough to know that I'm not an art dealer, but I've been a, quote, passionate amateur of collecting. Collecting things that are older, things that are newer but interesting. I've always loved the arts and culture scene. I grew up in a home with beautiful, thoughtful things that my parents collected over the years. And... I, it was one of those things where I looked around that professional landscape and I'm like, I could do this. Like, I mean, they're able to do. I can do this. So I think that I really, I envision this as a space where we can all gather and learn together when I mentioned, you know, touring the docents from the Freer Gallery around Detroit. So I, I, I helped, you know, with this. pilgrimage that these Freer docents made to Detroit to walk in Freer's footsteps. And we arranged a dinner at cuisine restaurant on Lothrop right across from the Fisher building. And I asked chef Paul, can I decorate the table? Sure. Because, you know, I get up there and there's just this long white tablecloth because, you know, he's focusing on this delectable food. But I knew that, you know, these are arts docents. They'll want like some visual stimulation. So I went through my own pottery collection. Wow. Because Freer collected a lot of pottery. He collected a lot of Powabic. He was one of the early patrons of Mary Chase Stratton. And, you know, being on the board of Powabic and volunteering there for many years, I have an addiction. I mean collection. I have a collection. It's not hoarding if your stuff is cool. Exactly. Yeah. But I had like tiles. I had some.

antique Turkish pottery and antique Japanese pottery. So I took from my own collection, packed it up in boxes, got to the restaurant ahead of time, and just laid out this table scape of this pottery. And the Freer Dosen started picking up the pieces from the table. And they're like, what's the story behind this? Oh, is this Armenian? Like, they started picking up individual pieces. Is this Poabic? Okay, how many Poabic do you have on the table? And... the organizer was like, do you want to docent your collection to us? And I died. I'm like, I'm dositing to actual docents. And this is what I meant when I said a little earlier. We are all collectors. Like I don't have any formal background in this. I just know what I like and what resonates with me, what I'm drawn to. And that kind of was part of the inspiration, especially after that lecture at the Freer House that you had promoted. hearing more about Freer's collection and being in the beautiful garden, the newly restored garden at the Freer House, just all of a sudden I woke up the day after that lecture and my brain was just on fire. And I thought, you know what? There needs to be a space where we can all learn together. We can show off our collections. So I really wanted this as a almost like a salon, like a French salon concept. where you learn from experts, you trade ideas. Do you want me to get into some of the people that I'm excited to present in that space? Which I am excited to learn from the people that you plan to present. I see in the press release, you signaled to Henry the Hatter. the Davils African Beat Museum and Hagopian rugs you have on one of Davils creations right now. Yeah, yeah. Those are like legacy institutions, the people, the businesses they've created within the city of Detroit and Metro Detroit. Why are these stories so important to capture and hold? My goodness, especially again in this like budding age of AI, you just don't know who to trust anymore. You don't know who to listen to anymore. I like to go back to the humans with expertise, generations sometimes of expertise. You know, I got this necklace from Dabbles at the African Beed Museum maybe like 10 years ago. And it's just a bunch of, you know. timeless but it's carnelian but like you can buy carnelian made anywhere now but like he educated me when i came in on this necklace it's from the late 1800s it's from this town in germany and they were known for such and such and like i was just entranced listening to dabble's expertise talking about everything the Hagopian family, brother and son, you know, they know rugs. I mean, she can look at a room. She's like a decorating savant. Like you need this type of colors. You need this much scale, you know, this measurement. And Ed, he can look at something and be like this Tunisia and it was made approximately. Like Google Lens. You just don't. And if you did, you wouldn't know to believe it or not. So I want.

The Peacock Room Antique Studio will be a space where you can come and listen to people present their expertise that they've learned. And I want to learn from them too. So there is humble students and it'll be a place to shop, yes, but it's not just going to be, as I said earlier, stuff on a shelf. Exactly. People want their things to have a story and to matter. Tell their story. Exactly. And to pass it. You need to tell the stories and share with generations. You mean that chipped pie plate from home goods? isn't going to make it a generation. Are you sure? Want, want. I know. I'm sorry. My gifts from Hobby Lobby will not make it. They're not going to make it. Out of here, excuse me. The Park Shelton is located in a neighborhood called the Art District for a reason. We all know why it's called that. The Detroit Institute of Arts Open in 1885. The Scarab Club began in seven. The College for Creative Study traces 1885. When you think about the art history that neighborhood holds, how do you see this space continuing in those early footsteps? Oh, wow. I mean, I think of... I think of the expertise and just really, like you said, the life of that neighborhood, it's always been the cultural heart of Detroit. I'm really excited to draw together people who are, maybe they consider themselves collectors, maybe they don't know their collectors yet, artists, just... To be in that space, that was a reason why I wanted to be in the Park Shelton when I first opened because you're in the Arts and Culture District of Detroit. So you have people that, you know, maybe they have a formal education. Maybe they haven't. Maybe they just frequent the estate sales of people with, like, incredible collections that they've, you know, gotten from all over the world. So I'm hoping that... This is basically going to be a parlor where people can come, listen to some music, you know, do some tastings, learn something, do some shopping. I really just see it as a natural extension of the history that's been built in that area already. Rachel Lutz is the owner of the Peacock Room located in the Park Shelton and Fisher Buildings. The New York Times just named the Peacock Room one of its 25 favorite clothing stores in the entire country. And the Peacock Room Antiques Studio opens this fall in the Park Shelton, I believe by appointment. And during events. We're eventually going to have hours, but it's going to start with a lot of event-driven hours. Yes, Rachel, thank you so much for joining me on the Metro, spending this hour with me and giving us a little bit of the spotlight you have from the New York Times. Thank you so much. Of course.

This is the Metro and for the space lovers out there. It may be a little cloudy at times today in Detroit, but... Above the clouds, there will be a partial solar eclipse. Unlike 2024, when Detroit experienced near total coverage, this solar eclipse will only be 3% coverage. Still, if there is a break in the clouds, anyone with an extra pair of eclipse glasses laying around may be able to see the moon pass along the top left corner of the sun that's peaking at 1.46 p.m. The Metro is hosted by Robin Vincent and me Tia Graham. It's produced by Sam Corey and Alex McLennan. Our engineer is Jose Yannis. And our senior producer is David Lyons. The Metro is a production of WDET, a listener-supported service of Wayne State University. And this is WDET FM, Detroit Public Radio, your connection to news, music, and conversation. You all have a great day.