Saks brings fur to Edna

    Ladies in Edna enjoyed quite a treat on May 13. Hosted by Carol Ann Lee in her home, Gita Shaffer and Michael Carroll from Saks Fifth Avenue in the Houston Galleria packed up a selection of furs from their Fur Salon and brought them 100 miles for viewing, purchase, upcycling, and even trade in. Shaffer is the director of the Fur Salon and Carroll is a fur specialist.
    Carroll, an Edna native, said this is a first for Saks.
    “This started as a conversation 20 years ago, when we both worked at Neiman Marcus together and it just never came to fruition,” he said, “When I came on [at Saks Fifth Avenue] in March, we picked it right back up. I knew we had all these people down in Edna who have furs in their closet they probably don’t wear because the styles are kind of outdated with big ‘Dynasty’ shoulder pads, that need to be tapered or shortened a little bit.”
    Shaffer said some beautiful furs just need an upgrade.
    “Everybody has a fur, whether it’s grandma’s fur, or mom’s fur, or something they bought themselves that they don’t like anymore. We brought some restyle samples. You can take the old fur and update it to current styles. We brought about 15 different styles we can change it in to,” she said. “We can make them long, short, bigger, smaller. They’re all custom made.”
    Several ladies showed up to the event, some bringing their old fur coats, and others showing up to browse for a brand new fur.
    Shaffer and Carroll hope that if the event is successful they can return and even take their furs to other cities where a Saks Fifth Avenue is not immediately accessible.