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Sunset Beach aims to please

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JIM LINETTE Part of the main clothing and accessory display area inside the new Sunset Beach at Periwinkle Place invites customers to stop and inspect the merchandise.
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Walking into Sunset Beach boutique, the newest retail tenant at Periwinkle Place, is a friendly and uplifting experience for shoppers whether they purchase something or not.

Part of that atmosphere comes from the tightly spaced racks and displays that seem to reach out and grab anyone passing by.

That’s exactly the reaction buyer/manager Jodi Ellis wanted to achieve when she opened the store on April 28. Sunset Beach is the second store in Periwinkle Place for Ellis, who opened Butterfly Beach there in 2010.

“We want to make relationships not just sales,” said Ellis. “We get shipments daily year round. I don’t buy large quantities so we can turn the inventory over quickly and continue to get fresh new things.”

Ellis added she intends to open more stores over the next several years. While these two stores are similar, they retain separate identities.

Family friendly Butterfly Beach offers clothing, accessories and gift items for pets and babies and all the way up to great-grandmothers with nothing in the store priced higher than $100.

Sunset Beach targets a younger, contemporary shopper interested in fashionable Florida shoes (sandals), clothing, accessories.

“It’s for the husband and wife in their 30s looking for things they can wear not only on vacation, but at home,” said Ellis. “It’s not just resort wear and it’s fun and affordable.”

Sunset Beach offers a contemporary Sanibel T-shirt unlike anything available elsewhere and a line of sandals by OluKai of Hawaii.

“It’s a good quality shoe,” said Ellis. “It has a heel cut and an arch so it is more supportive and looks fashionable.”

Price tags at Sunset Beach do not exceed $200.

Both stores operate from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (till 8 p.m. in season) six days a week and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sundays. Ellis also tries to stay connected with customers through a Facebook page.