New fashion truck brings Miami to Pittsburgh
Can’t make it to Miami? Enjoy a bit of that city in Pittsburgh, thanks to Bow by Kat — one of thecity’s newest fashion trucks.
It hit the road earlier this summer, with a stock of easy-breezy resort wear, accessories and other comfortable-yet-chic selections for women. It’s owned and operated by Kat Marryshow Katawczik, a former model who’s now a nurse for Allegheny General Hospital.
“I just wanted to get back into the fashion scene,” she says. “I liked the idea of the flexibility of the truck and it being like owning my own business.”
Pittsburgh is home to a small fleet of other mobile boutiques, including Style Truck, Vintage Valet, Magnolia on Main and Boujie Empire. More than a year ago, she spotted one of them in the Strip District, which inspired herto look into starting her own.
Step 1: Finding the right “Bow” (aka, boutique on wheels).
“It wasn’t an easy process,” she says. “I actually had thought about doing a tiny house but decided to go with an all-in-one truck because of parking and having to have something to pull the tiny house.”
Online browsing led her to a large truck for sale with only 3,000 miles on it, plus a man in Cincinnati who could make over the interior. A friend helped her get the look and layout just right — sleek flooring, white brick walls, a crystal chandelier, dressing room and roomy racks and shelving.
“I wanted it to be very comfortable and open, where people can feel like they’re in a regular boutique,” Ms. Katawczik says. “I wanted to make it feel like a boutique out of Miami, as opposed to something you see in Pittsburgh.”
Merchandise (most of which isless than $100, with the bulk between $30 and $70) is fit for the ’Burgh or the beach. “Stuff when you’re on vacation, it’s the piece you want to take with you,” she
adds. She sources a lot from her travels to New York City, Atlanta and Miami. In the future, she hopes to tap some of her fashion connections overseas from her modeling days to pick out pieces from showroomsin Italy.
“I’d also love to go to India and just see what I can find,” she says.
She’s still learning the mobile retail landscape but has been pleased with the response she’s received so far. She’s participated in the Saturday Night Market and monthly Monday fashion markets in Market Square, plus she regularly parks in the Strip District at 21st and Smallmanstreets.
“It’s been really wonderful. Most of the people who have came in, young and older, are like, ‘Wow, this is so cool. I’ve never seen anything like it.’ ”
Beyond parking at pop-up events, Bow by Kat is available for private events and will offer personalized shopping services, including closet/wardrobe consultations.
She has appearances here planned well into September, but once winter rolls in she plans to head South — to Miami — and take her burgeoning mobile business with her. But come spring, she’ll be back with a new crop of clothing to shop!