Meet Danielle Van Ede of Sterre in Stanley Marketplace, Aurora

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Van Ede.

Danielle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My family and I arrived in Denver 20+ years ago. I am originally from The Netherlands and lived in Greece and South Africa. I have always been focused on fashion and before starting Sterre, I worked in retail in Amsterdam, Athens and Johannesburg. After being a stay-at-home mom for many years and unable to work as my US Visa did not allow me to, in 2008 I got my Greencard and I immediately started to work on Larimer Square in retail In 2015 I heard about the Stanley Marketplace initiative which was my opportunity to start my own boutique. The thrill, stress and hard work to get started was exhausting, but, very satisfactory. There are several other women business owners at Stanley, I admire any woman who starts a business from scratch and I am quite proud that I took the risk at 50+. Every year since opening the store has been growing. It has been such a great adventure and feeling of accomplishment.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has certainly not been smooth at all! It started with the build out of my store. I basically was given an empty space. To save money I decided to be my own General Contractor. This meant that a ton of men had to listen to me and deliver their work on time and at the quality and price we agreed. As you can imagine, some did and some did not. I can still look back at that time with a smile, although at the time I had many moments of anxiety as many issues popped up along the way. The other massive challenge was to establish the contacts with the clothing brands. I was a nobody and it took some time to establish the relationships. I did know what I wanted the collection to be. The biggest obstacle was the delay of the opening of the marketplace. Like with any construction project, but, especially a refurbishment of such a unique structure as the marketplace, it took much longer before I could open my store. As I had already ordered the starting collection, I was stuck with a lot of merchandise and no opportunity to sell. This is when I decided to register for all summer markets in the Denver area. For several months, every weekend I mobilized my family to help pack the clothes, my tent and other stuff in my car. This was a very humbling start of my business. I admire all of those who sell on markets. The final challenge is to find employees. I have been lucky with those who worked with me, but I bet if you ask other retail professionals, it is really hard to make hiring decisions.,

Please tell us about Sterre.
My business is a women’s clothing boutique. I curate the collection with a focus to find affordable quality clothing for stylish women. I recently added clothing for girls as well. I think I am known for the unique style I bring to my customers. I believe I have an eye of what works for which woman and girl. I am very proud of the fact that I have established a great following of women who love to come shopping with me.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My mother was a very fashionable woman. I remember days that I would come back from school and through the window I could see that my mom had gone shopping for me and found the latest fashion items. She had a very special way to flat-lay them on my bed to showcase the outfit.

Contact Info:

• Address: Stanley Marketplace
  2501 Dallas Street
  Aurora, CO 80010
• Website: www.sterredenver.com
• Phone: 3039990718
• Email: danielle@sterredenver.com

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