A Palm Beach native with a background in business and photography has opened a lifestyle boutique on the island.
The Nix Palm Beach, a 1,300-square-foot space at 290A South County Road, features furniture, fashion and “everything” in between, owner Nikki Connaughton told the Daily News.
The store will showcase the work of local and national artists as well as family members and friends.
“I love local businesses,” said Connaughton, who managed Walter Zabriskie Furniture on Worth Avenue for six years before opening The Nix Palm Beach. “My sister is an artist, so I’ll be featuring all of her artwork. My mom’s also a photographer, so I have a lot of her pieces in here. And then we’ll just be doing a lot of pop-ups and hosting a lot of women-run businesses locally and nationwide, plus friends and family.
“It’s just going to be really fun, refreshing and feminine, with bright colors. It’s just different from the typical Palm Beach home store, and just something very relaxed and enjoyable.”
Connaughton, a former Palm Beach Day Academy student who moved away from the island for college and work before returning full time in 2004, decided to open her first business this year in an effort to “create some value” for herself.
She left her job at Walter Zabriskie Furniture in March and traveled to Bali with her sister, where they met with furniture suppliers and sourced a variety of items for the business. Those items will arrive in December, Connaughton said, so a soft opening was planned for this month.
“Once the container arrives, we’ll be up and running,” she said. “It’s very exciting.”
Connaughton said she couldn’t be happier with the store’s location, which is two doors down from the gourmet French restaurant La Goulue.
“I feel like we’re in the heart of Palm Beach,” she said. “It’s very exciting that The Palm House is opening up basically across the street from us. There will be great foot traffic, and there’s a lot of really good stores that just opened up right here on South County. I feel very blessed to have gotten this space.”
Connaughton, who previously worked for luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus in its corporate offices, said she looks forward to making The Nix Palm Beach a “great destination” to shop and relax.
She plans to travel as often as possible to source items for her store, and she hopes to one day create her own line of products.
“I want to do everything from pillows to table linens and beyond,” she said. “I really just want to travel to unique places and just have something that’s totally unique to myself and to Palm Beach.”
The Nix Palm Beach will be open seven days a week initially, Connaughton said, though Sunday hours will be limited.
The store will focus on handmade items, she said, and would provide opportunities for shoppers to order customized items, particularly furniture.
“I want to incorporate both fashion and furniture,” she said. “It’s just going to be the one-stop shop for everything you need.”
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com.