Business & Tech

PHOTOS: Top It Off Holds Ribbon-Cutting at Hollin Hall Shopping Center

The Mount Vernon location is the company's first wholesale outlet.

Officials with the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce joined the staff of in a ribbon-cutting Friday to mark the wholesale outlet store’s grand opening at the Hollin Hall Shopping Center.

Located behind , the outlet store sells a variety of goods, including baby items, jewelry, tunics, summer hats, wraps and scarves. The store opened in August and has seen the number of customers grow ever since, said store manager Bridget Teeter.

“I think the store is a very nice addition to the community,” Teeter said. “You don’t have to go to Leesburg anymore to find outlet prices -- we’re right here in Alexandria. So it’s been exciting, and people have been very happy to come in a see our products and designs.”

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Best-selling items include tunics, jewelry and wristlet purses, she said.

Top it Off, a wholesale manufacturer, is based out of West Roxbury, Mass., and launched eight years ago, said co-owner Karena Rasser. The company sells to 2,000 stores across the country and has its warehouse is in Lorton.

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In 2011, the company opened its first retail location in West Roxbury. The Mount Vernon store is the company’s first outlet and includes discontinued, past-season or slightly damaged merchandise. The store is tiny, about 450 square feet, and sells most items for $25 or less.

Rasser said she lives in the Collingwood neighborhood and wanted to open a store close to home.

“There’s was nothing really like us here in this side of the shopping center, and the response has been unbelievably positive, having a nice little fun, girly boutique to just come hang out, (with) great prices,” she said.

Emily Lussier, a Mount Vernon resident who visited the store for the first time Friday, came out with a purse, a child’s belt, a ring and hair-bows for her children.

“I thought it was great,” Lussier said. “I loved the outlet prices, and she has a lot to offer. And I liked the kids’ section. They had a great jewelry selection, and I got a purse for $5.”

On Saturday, the store will hold a special event with events for children including free face painting between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and every child will receive a toy.

The store’s regular hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

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