Barbara Katz Shop Moving After Mother’s Day

By Marci Shatzman

There’s a photo studio in the foyer of Cassie Walin’s home. “We’ll have one in the new store,” said Walin, who at 36 is the third-generation owner of Boca’s women’s fashion emporium Barbara Katz.

“I was very close with my grandmother,” who founded the original shop in Miami Beach. Having Walin step in as owner of the family retail business allowed her mom Lauri Katz-Parker to retire in early 2021, Walin said. She was raised in the store, and remembers doing her homework in the break room and going on buying trips with her mother. “She was a pioneer as a woman entrepreneur,” Walin said.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, and in advance of their impending move, Barbara Katz customers will find clothes and accessories on sale on their website and in their 19^th Street location. The move was announced on their website. “We’re opening on Monday June 2,” Walin said. And in fact, the Barbara Katz name is already inscribed on the door and windows at the north end of the Shops at Boca Center on Military Trail just north of Palmetto Park Road.

Times change, and Walin designed the website and her merchandise now meets customers’ needs. Formerly focused on formalwear, Barbara Katz now features what Walin calls quality ready-to-wear separates and dresses, handbags, jewelry and accessories. Some cocktail. Her motto is ‘cool, comfortable, classic.” “I don’t define our store as trendy,” she said. “The pieces have an edge…and stand the test of time.”

The two models photographed were wearing “new arrivals,” posted as such on the website at 6 p.m. every Tuesday. They double as saleswomen, and Wilan’s particularly proud of their customer service. Every sales person is a stylist, she said.

Back to Mother’s Day literally…the St. Andrew’s School and University of Central Florida alum and her husband have a young daughter and expect another child soon. “I’m honored to be carrying on the legacy,” as the owner of Barbara Katz, she said.