T-Boz of TLC To Open A Children’s Clothing Store

Article written by: Rodrick Rainey
Posted on: April 19, 2005

When Watkins became a mother, she quickly developed a passion for children’s fashion. Chase’s Closet is named for her 4-year-old daughter, Chase. The store is modeled after Chase’s bedroom.

“She’s my miracle baby. I was told I couldn’t have kids,” says Watkins, 35, who has sickle cell anemia and is the national spokesperson for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. The inherited blood disease affects red blood cells and often causes pain and damage to many organs.

Watkins began mulling the idea of a children’s clothing store after friends commented that Chase’s closet at their home in Atlanta looked much like a store.

“I had to open a store ’cause I was going broke,” says Watkins, who admits spending up to $70,000 a year on clothes for her daughter. “I was always looking for lines like Rocky T and Bambino down South, but I could never find them for my daughter. I had to have them because I wanted her to be different.”

While she originally wanted to open a store in Atlanta, Watkins says it was difficult finding a suitable location there. Celebrity stylist Tara Brivic-Rowntree, who had recently moved to Houston, convinced her to consider the area.

“We did our research and found that in Houston, the fourth-largest city, there were many clothing lines we couldn’t get, too. We wanted to stay in the South, and Houston was perfect.”

Chase’s Closet carries clothing lines D&G Junior, Rocky T, Miss Blumarine, Moschino, Ralph Lauren Layette, English Roses, Von Dutch Baby and Mommy and Me lines for both mother and child.