Sabrina Amelung poses outside The Monogram Closet in Delray Beach.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Scott Simmons
You could call Sabrina Amelung a Delray Beach pioneer.
Twelve years ago, long before Pineapple Grove had evolved into the hip area it is today, she opened The Monogram Closet, specializing in stitching initials onto clothing and accessories.
Come Aug. 3, she hopes to open in a 1930 cottage that was moved to Delray Beach’s next retail frontier, the West Settlers Historic District, on Northwest Fifth Avenue, about two blocks west of the Tennis Center and a block north of Atlantic Avenue.
Amelung is banking on the change.
“Pineapple Grove didn’t look like it does now,” she said.
Many of the mixed-use buildings that now line Northeast Second Avenue were mere dreams in the minds of builders.
And there was a lot more parking.
Now?
“We hear it every day. ‘Can you hurry because I’m double-parked?’ ” she said.
And she’d have to remind customers that you can’t hurry custom orders.
That includes monograms on purses, tote bags, shirts, baby blankets — just about anything onto which you can stitch the fanciful initials.
It seems like a natural for Delray Beach and the towns along the barrier island, but The Monogram Closet was one of the first stores to specialize in personalizing apparel in southern Palm Beach County.
“When I opened, no one knew about us. There was nothing around me in Pineapple Grove. We just kind of cultivated our customers,” Amelung said.
And now?
“All day long, we sell baby items. Monogramming tends to be more of a preppy look, but even if you’re not preppy, people still like to use it on baby blankets and totes,” she said.
“What’s super hot? Initials on purses, more so than on tote bags. Walking around with your initial purse is very hot now.”
Of course, that’s what Amelung carries as well.
“I carry everything I sell on me at all times,” she said laughing.
The shortcut Amelung took from Pineapple Grove to hop onto Interstate 95 led her to the cottage she is transforming into a store.
“I kept cutting through that little strip just to jump on 95. Those two little cottages are cute. I saw a for-lease sign. It was a CRA property and they had done it head to toe,” she said. “I liked everything they said about rezoning the area.”
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has been working to revitalize the Atlantic Avenue corridor between Swinton Avenue and I-95. This building was part of that effort.
“I would have signed as long a lease as they would given me,” Amelung said. Her current lease for the CRA-owned building is four years, with options.
After all, it is the options — and word of mouth — that have kept The Monogram Closet going for 12 years.
“I had a lady pop in yesterday. She had flown in from Baltimore. She had seen a tote bag that was monogrammed and asked the lady where she got it. And the lady very nicely told her,” Amelung said.
And just like that, The Monogram Closet gained a new customer.
The Monogram Closet opens Aug. 3 at 182 NW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach. For details, call 921-0236 or visit www.monogramcloset.com.
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