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After relocating to Inglewood from Florence, Alabama, Jessie Bower quickly fell in love with her new neighborhood. Just north of East Nashville, Inglewood is a vibrant, creative community, home to artist Ed Nash's studio and other artisan spots like Old Made Good and Fond Object Records.
For Bower, though, the neighborhood's retail offerings left something to be desired.
'There are a lot of fun people and a great energy here, but the market's not saturated yet,” she says. 'I saw an opportunity to dig into Inglewood and provide a new, anchored space for the fashion industry, and I went for it.”
Steluta, Romanian for 'little star,” is a space that lives up to its name. 'We're really focused on the little stars of the store, things that shine brightly for me that I can then bring in and share here,” Bower explains.
With that in mind, she's stocked the space with brands not readily available elsewhere in Nashville: statement pieces from Gary Graham, handmade, organic apparel from Alabama Chanin, small batch wardrobe staples from Jill Aiko Yee, and menswear from The Hill-side, to name a few.
Steluta doesn't stop at clothing, either. The front of the store offers a curated collection of jewelry, home goods, and accessories sourced from around the globe. There are unisex scents from Paris, sunglasses from Australia, and Bower's favorite loose-leaf tea from California, too.
With a master's degree in arts management from Carnegie Mellon, Bower artfully combined her expertise with her love of fashion in opening Steluta.
'Being able to curate this space and offer a showcase for [these designers] seemed like an appropriate role for me to take,” she explains. 'I enjoy being around things that are made really well, and I enjoy supporting people who are very creative, so all of the pieces just kind of come together.”
1601 B Riverside Dr., 615-942-5563; shopsteluta.com