Lyn Evans Potpourri Designs announced last fall that the company planned to close its West Hartford store, but the owners have decided to keep it open as an outlet store.

The Lyn Evans store in West Hartford Center has been reconfigured as an outlet store and re-opened Feb. 18. Photo credit: Evelyn Laurenzi

By Ronni Newton

The Lyn Evans store on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford Center was shuttered for a few weeks, but the racks are being filled again and the store will re-open to the public on Thursday, Feb. 18 with a different approach to the business.

“We’re going to see what happens,” Lyn Evans owner Stan Shotkus said Tuesday of the decision to operate the store as the Lyn Evans Outlet.

When the store closing was announced in late November, the plan was to cease operations at the end of December 2015. Merchandise was deeply discounted and once the majority of the inventory was sold off, the doors seemingly closed for good on Jan. 30.

“We weren’t even considering doing this,” Shotkus said. “Our employees were so sad, and then this discussion came up.”

The response to the deeply discounted merchandise at the store-closing sale had been very positive, and so has the response from customers who received a Feb. 11 email informing them of the plans to reconfigure the space into an outlet.

Shotkus said that unsold merchandise from other Lyn Evans stores will be channeled to the West Hartford store, and inventory will be supplemented with items from other vendors and suppliers as well. Lyn Evans currently has seven other stores – two in Connecticut (New Canaan and Ridgefield) and five in Massachusetts.

The shopping experience at the Lyn Evans Outlet will be like a “treasure hunt,” Shotkus said. “You never know what you’ll find, but you can be assured it will be at a great price,” he said. Prices will be at least 40 percent to as much as 60-75 percent off retail.

Stylists Irena Bojko and Evelyn Laurenzi will both be back, and play a major role in making the outlet store successful. “They are fabulous. I wouldn’t have done it if they weren’t part of the equation,” Shotkus said.

“Irena Bojko, my co-stylist and I are thrilled, to say the least!” Laurenzi said in an email.

Lyn Evans Outlet will be open Thursday through Saturday only, from 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. Shotkus said that Wednesday hours will be added once the weather warms up.

Complaints about parking in West Hartford Center had been mentioned as a contributing factor to the store’s decision to close last fall, but Shotkus hopes that the store’s “compelling prices” will overcome any perceived inconvenience.

“We think the outlet concept is powerful, and it seems to be the growth model for retail,” Shotkus said, citing Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off 5th and Neiman Marcus Last Call as successful examples.

Lyn Evans is located at 973 Farmington Ave. in West Hartford Center.

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The Lyn Evans store in West Hartford Center has been reconfigured as an outlet store and re-opened Feb. 18. Photo credit: Evelyn Laurenzi

The Lyn Evans store in West Hartford Center has been reconfigured as an outlet store and re-opened Feb. 18. Photo credit: Evelyn Laurenzi

The Lyn Evans store in West Hartford Center has been reconfigured as an outlet store and re-opened Feb. 18. Photo credit: Evelyn Laurenzi

The Lyn Evans store in West Hartford Center has been reconfigured as an outlet store and re-opened Feb. 18. Photo credit: Evelyn Laurenzi