Lucky Knot Anchors New Store on King Street

Since 1985, Andrea Ploutis and her family have been a part of the retail business community in Alexandria. Like most boutique stores in Old Town, their new store The Lucky Knot is family-owned and operated.

"All of my family is employed working in the boutiques," Ploutis said. "My granddaughter is 8 years old and she was working here all day. She loves it and was sorting clothes and wants to start working."

The Lucky Knot is the third boutique store owned by Ploutis and her three daughters. The family and Andrea's Boutique both located on King Street. Ploutis said she will continue to run her other stores as planned and has been working around the clock since The Lucky Knot opened July 4. Her daughter Athina Kohilas said they had to prepare quickly for the new opening since they didn't have much time.

"We couldn’t get into the shop until July 1, so we literally opened up in a few days," she said. "The guy was leaving June 30 and the next morning we were here. My father built up all the units beforehand and just brought everything in so we already figured the layout and knew what was going to go where."

Kohilas said that since their opening date they have had a lot of shipments coming in because of the transition time as fall comes and will have a lot more clothes at the end of July. The Lucky Knot carries designer clothes such as Vineyard Vines, Vera Bradley and Jude Connally and also carries accessories from Lilly Pulitzer. Kohilas and Ploutis describes the Lucky Knot as preppier than their other boutiques and offers a wide range of designer clothes and accessories for customers.

"We’re focusing on the American classic and more timeless pieces that are versatile," Kohilas said. "People can dress it up and dress down. With most of our dresses people like that because they can wear them during the day and then switch off to jewelry and shoes to wear in the eveing."

Ploutis, who came to the United States in 1969 said she came up with the idea to name the store The Lucky Knot since her family originates from Cyprus, Greece. Kohilas said her family was inspired by a nautical theme since her father was raised in the Mediterranean and liked the fisherman theme.

“A knot brings it together, and stays together,” Ploutis said.

Ploutis and Kohilas said they wanted to open up another store in Old Town because of the location and tourist traffic. Kohilas said they may have a grand opening in the future. As for plans on opening another boutique Ploutis said she wants to focus on her current stores.

"My husband wants to open more but I told him that’s it. For now anyway.”