Community Corner

New Winnetka Boutique Focuses on Oilcloths

Flee Bags will be hosting a book signing on Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Dr. Barbara Royal, who counts Oprah Winfrey among her clients.

East coast native Suzanne Robin didn’t set out to own a boutique store, much less a store in the Midwest. 

“I’d always loved oilcloth and found that it was underutilized, so I bought oil clothes and made a tote one day,” said Robin.

The former advertising account executive says oilcloths are great for more than just outdoor products because they are light weight, durable and water repellant. 

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From making that one tote in 2003, Robin has since relocated her boutique store Flee Bags from a 500-square-foot space in Boston to a space in Winnetka that’s just under 1,000 square feet. 

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Flee Bags sells oilcloth bags for picnicking, traveling, work and is designed “for busy women with on the fly lifestyles.” The boutique store at 561a Lincoln Avenue also sells gift items such as baby clothing, magnets and candles.

From Pop-Up Shop to Retail Store

Launched as a pop-up shop during the Christmas shopping season in 2011, Flee Bags officially opened in April 2012.

“I had such a strong following from the North Shore and here in Winnetka … I just knew it would work here because [customers] had been following me for a couple of years,” Robin said.

Prior to setting up a physical store, Robin sold items from the Flee Bags brand at retail stores such as Seagrass home store and at a Wilmette store in Plaza del Lago.

Partnering with Blankets & Bowls

The store is also home to Chicago’s first drop off location for Blankets & Bowls’ ‘Merchant to Shelter’ program, which collects items such as gently used bowls, leashes and toys to help improve living conditions for animal in shelters and rescues.

“Once a month we will be distributing what we collect from the North Shore community here and donating it to kitties and doggies that need a new blanket, leash or bowl,” she said.

Robin says she has pinpointed seven shelters and rescues in the greater Chicago area that she will be partner with.

“It’s a cause close to my heart,” Robin said. “I got my dog from a shelter in South Carolina so I know the strains.”

Book Signing Thursday Oct. 18

To kick off the Blankets & Bowls effort, Flee Bags will be hosting a book signing on Thursday, Oct. 18 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Dr. Barbara Royal, author of The Royal Treatment, A Natural Approach to Wildly Healthy Pets. 

Royal, a Wilmette-resident, who counts Oprah Winfrey among her clients, combines Western and Eastern medicine and practices.

Robin says she is currently busy preparing for the charity event and the upcoming holiday season but hopes to launch other Flee Bags products, such as oilcloth leash and umbrellas, in the near future, and maybe even reestablish a store back on the East Coast.

“I never intended to start my own company, it just happened,” Robin said. “Now I can’t even think of anything I would want to do more.”

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