From Deseret News archives:
Masha Kirilenko opens store in Gateway today
The shorter of the two Kirilenkos is hoping to satisfy the Utah shoppers she says currently travel to Las Vegas and Los Angeles looking for hip clothes. On Monday afternoon, as painters finished up the showroom and employees steamed wrinkles out of blouses, Masha's collection included flip-flops, T-shirts and baseball hats decorated with both skulls and Swarovski crystals.
Raised in Moscow and educated in England, Masha has shopped all over the world, and her own personal favorite store is Harrods in London. On the other hand, she says she is also "addicted to Target." By her reckoning, Salt Lake City has only three hip clothing stores.
Big-and-tall merchandise will only account for about 15 percent of her stock. But she has also arranged with certain clothing manufacturers to provide custom orders for really tall people.
She named the boutique Fleur de Lis because it was the symbol for French royalty, she says. But on Monday, as she surveyed her new store, she wondered if she'd made a mistake. "I should have named it 'Soft,"' she said wistfully. "That's a very cute name."
Masha dismisses speculation by one journalist earlier this year that she can't wait to get out of Salt Lake City: "That was the weirdest thing I ever heard." She thinks of Utah as a perfect place to raise a family, she says, and she loves her son's school. "If probably I was stuck here and could never travel, maybe it would be a little overwhelming," she admits.
Before marrying Andrei and moving to Utah in 2001, Masha owned a company that did sports and entertainment marketing, and was once tour manager for the Russian group Boy Band. She has a degree in linguistics and a master's in art, and in 2002 had a hit Russian music video called "Sugary." She plans to re-release the CD in the United States and to sell it in her new store.
When the basketball season begins next fall, Fleur de Lis will provide limo service to pick up visiting players and bring them to The Gateway to shop. For more reluctant shoppers who accompany their wives, Masha has provided a small alcove with a TV and video games.
E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com
Comments
- Senators seek cost controls 12:07 p.m.
- 'Slight' Games impact on Vancouver 11:54 a.m.
- Nadal cruises, Spain leads Czechs 11:52 a.m.
- U.S. looks to expand drone attacks 11:52 a.m.
- Tiger, alleged mistress keep quiet 11:50 a.m.
- Stocks edge higher 11:48 a.m.
- Study: Global warming not easing 11:43 a.m.
- Obama: Plan to 'jump-start' hiring 11:41 a.m.
- 20 killed in Indonesian fire 11:33 a.m.
- Va. Tech report details fumbles 11:32 a.m.
- Mr. Football 2009: Tuni Kanuch
- Harpring's NBA career is over
- Miller predicted Tiger's rough road
- Phoenix signs off on LDS temple
- MVPs wrap up stellar prep careers
- 5A high school football All-State
- Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
- Utah Jazz going green with unis
- Jazz: Miles, Kirilenko to play Friday
- 4A high school football: All-State
- Hall reprimanded by MWC
407 - Max Hall issues apology
393 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
362 - Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
288 - Utes won't respond to Hall
278 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
247 - Letters: Liberal because LDS
228 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
188 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
175 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
171
That does it — I'm having an affair! Thanks to Tiger Woods, David...
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Zions Bank has a free online holiday gift planner that's creating some...
Why not just seal off the area where the body is but leave the rest open?...
I disagree with Observation-ist when he says "It's both illogical and...
This is a very sad story, but as a climber I don't think it's right to close...
According to economists, the best way to create permanent jobs would be to...
The difference 11:22 I don't agree that there are NO_STANDARDS_whatsoever...
Bring him back as an ass't replacing Layden next year then when Sloan & Phil...
This is all obviously from the same brilliant minds looking the other way on...
$501 per hour.
I do hope that soon the comments will end, whether you are for or against...
"Who are we targeting in health care?" Old people. We're rationing the care...




You can be the first to comment on this story.