South Hills Native Brings Sewickley Boutique to Mt. Lebanon

A South Hills native has brought her unique clothing boutique back to her hometown.

Kathryn Richardson, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon, opened Rosewood in Sewickley in March 2011, and opened her second location on Washington Road in her hometown last August.

Richardson said she settled on the Mt. Lebanon storefront because the location is a “happy medium” between several communities—including Dormont, Brookline, Scott Township and Upper St. Clair—which are home to many young professionals, her target demographic.

“We opened a boutique in Sewickley in 2011, and after being there for a year and a half we saw that this is something Pittsburgh doesn’t have a lot of, especially in the suburbs,” Richardson said.

There are other boutiques in the area, but Richardson said her goal is to tailor her store to the interests of customers. She brings in new merchandise twice a week, and buys based on what customers ask for, or frequently purchase.

The South Hills store also features jewelry and accessories, as well as unique merchandise, such as baby items, that are not available at the Sewickley store. Prices range from $5 to $150, and there is always a 50-percent-off section.

“I think of how I like to shop,” Richardson said. “I like to get a good deal, and I like to tell my friends about the deals I got. Everyone wants to look cute, and the trends go by so fast that it’s nice to pick up something that’s affordable.”

Richardson wasn’t always a boutique owner—she and her husband spent a year teaching English in Hong Kong schools before returning to his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas and then moving back to Pittsburgh in 2010.

When she returned to the United States, she and her sister decided they would rather strike out on their own than join corporate America. They went back to Hong Kong, bought clothes and accessories from the area, and held a trunk show in Little Rock, which was successful enough to convince them to open a store.

“We thought ‘yeah, we have an eye for this,’ and opened Ember, the first store, in Little Rock,” Richardson said. “When we moved to Pittsburgh, my husband found a job and I was trying to figure out what to do, so I decided to try another store.”

Richardson said she thinks she made the right choice, and has enjoyed meeting customers from all over the South Hills. She said she’s glad to contribute a small business to the business district in the area where she grew up.

“I’m surprised at the wide range of where people come from,” she said. “Dormont and Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park, Brookline, Canonsburg. All these neighborhoods have been mentioned when people come in. There are younger crowds moving in. There are a lot of up-and-coming areas around here and I’m happy to provide this for them.”

Rosewood has a website and a Facebook page.