“No one is really doing what we are doing,” says Glenna Rohrbacher about her Midtown lingerie boutique Coco & Lola’s. Even Glenna was surprised Memphis didn’t have a boutique that carried vintage-inspired lingerie or lingerie in “real-women size.” It was a discovery that helped launched her business in Cooper-Young.
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“I just walked around for days asking locals what they needed in Cooper-Young. Most could tell me what they didn’t need any more of. I was given lots of ideas but nothing spoke to me,” she says.
It was a trip to New Orleans with her husband on her 60th birthday that began the lingerie idea. They stumbled upon a shop on Royal Street. “Naturally being in the Quarter, the whole experience was quite nostalgic. The atmosphere was very shaded in burlesque and I had never seen anything like it.”
Glenna admitted that she had a hard time finding lingerie locally that suited her and discovered other women in Midtown had the same problem, noting how far the drive was for them just to buy a pair of panties. Not soon after, the store concept was developed. It was originally called the “Naughty Diva,” but after some neighborhood reactions, she and her husband with help from several other family members landed on a more discreet name, two names to be precise – Coco & Lola’s each representing two distinct personas.
Coco represents the sophisticated, vintage-loving woman, while Lola represents the edgier woman and likely for a more youthful audience. Glenna drives the persona of Coco within the shop and her daughter Parker Johnson, who also manages, helps drive the persona of Lola. It’s a melding of “sass and class” as their tagline suggests.
Stepping into the small and intimate boutique is like stepping into a luxurious closet of an undeniably confident woman. The room smells sweet and provocative from a scent they created themselves and packaged into a candle they sell exclusively.
Coco & Lola’s offers specialties such as vintage-inspired lingerie, bustiers, and corsets. A recommended brand for the corset and waist cincher is Rago, which Glenna believes is almost essential to making sure one looks their best in vintage-inspired dresses. They also carry the Cosa Bella line, a luxury lingerie brand from Italy, that is distinctly known and found nowhere else in Memphis. Other brands of note include Betty Page, Coquette, and Shirley of Hollywood. They even carry some jewelry by local artists. As far as lingerie sizes go, all women are accommodated. If they don’t have it, they will gladly order it for you.
“I want everyone to feel really comfortable here and we carry sizes that fit girls up to a 44 so they do!” says Glenna.
Visit them at 710 South Cox in Cooper Young.
Hours: Monday – Saturday 11:30 – 7:00 pm
(901) 425-5912
www.cocoandlolas.com