Nicole's Writings

COVER STORY

By Nicole Ciarapica

With two shops at the beach, Lili Kohr uses her “eye for finding stuff that’s special” to keep her customers looking good

Lili Kohr would give the shirt off of her back for anyone. Literally—she does it quite often. Kohr wears her outfits with the tags still on because at any moment someone is asking to buy her blouse or bracelet.

Kohr is the owner of Tiger Lili, a handbag boutique with two locations in Rehoboth– Tanger Outlets and the boardwalk.

She handpicks high-end products from showrooms in New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and Vegas.

“I have an eye for finding stuff that’s special,” she said, “I buy for the customer but I gotta love it.”

When she loves what she’s wearing, it shows. And it’s highly contagious.

It caused one woman to jump lanes in the grocery store checkout to ask about her handbag. And made one young girl plead for Kohr’s worn watch rather than the ones for sale in the store.

She’s a tall, Panamanian beauty with long dark hair, kind eyes, and a ridiculous amount of energy. She’s married with 4 kids and spends a typical day at one of her Rehoboth stores. Tiger Lili on the boardwalk is a smaller boutique filled with rare treasures and funky finds. Tiger Lili in the outlets is the size of four boutiques with more classic pieces.

“Things are impulsive here at the beach,” she said, “At the outlets, people are thinking of clothes for work.”

There’s no telling what Kohr will wear to work.

“I put on what I love,” she said, “It’s the mood I’m in and what I want to reflect.”

She has a lot to choose from, so she just lets the outfit come together naturally.

“Yeah I just grab stuff in my closet….if I can get to it,” Kohr said.

Since she reinvents herself daily, pinpointing her style isn’t easy. Kohr describes it as rock ‘n roll. She loves a good pair of jeans like most women do. She has an obsession with fringe on clothing.

“I’m like a chameleon—constantly changing.”

In the summer, you’ll see her wearing a tank top under tons upon tons of pearl necklaces.

Chanel and Ralph Lauren are her favorite designers. She’s tired of the craze over the color pink. And currently, she’s giving special attention to the color orange, turquoise, and her beloved cowboy boots.

“Fashion changes in the blink of an eye if you’re on the front lines of it,” she said, “You have to reinvent yourself.”

So, if the mood strikes, she’ll be in the boutique around midnight revamping the floor plan….again.

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Kohr always had an eye for fashion, but having her own store was only a dream.

Her Jewish father taught her how to sell at garage sales when she was young. She started adding her own flair to a product when she bought, embellished, and resold her daughter’s ice-skating costumes.

The first handbag ever sold was a clutch with stones on the front that resembled a Fifth Avenue bag made of chinchilla fur. Kohr wore it to a pageant and transformed every girl into a green-eyed monster.

“Oh, the looks! I knew I had the IT bag,” she said.

The bag sold on eBay for $500 and with that, Kohr continued the buying and reselling.

“Soon I had my whole living room, bedroom, everywhere covered with handbags and jewelry. Everywhere I went I’d carry a suitcase filled with handbags.”

She held house parties in Pennsylvania, where she lived at the time, and grew very popular. When she moved to Bethany she still sold to that fan base twice a week, racking up 20,000 miles on her car in two months.

“My husband said ‘Lily this is not a hobby anymore. You need a store,’” Kohr said.

They found a location on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth in 2006.

“I bought an enormous thing of forsythias and Marc Jacob jackets for my wall display.”

The trick was attracting business to the less than desirable location that couldn’t be seen from the road.

She got a little marketing help from her children– Annalysa, Gabriella, Jonathon, and Maximus, now 20, 13, 11, and 9 years of age.

“The kids were standing out on the corner of the road in hot weather with ice cream melting in their hands, saying “Go to my mommy’s store. She has a really cool purse store!”

Cute kids plus homemade store coupons equaled success.

“That’s how we got business off of Rehoboth Avenue,” Kohr said.

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Although Kohr has a deep passion for items she wears and sells, she is surprisingly unattached to them. She did sell her own watch to the girl who asked for it. She sets aside huge piles of clothes for family and friends.

“I can get more,” she said, “Tomorrow it will be a new thing.”

Kohr’s generous nature may have developed while living in Panama. She moved to the United States with her family around her 17^th birthday.

“With my upbringing—we gave to people who worked for us,” she said, “It’s so easy for me to give because I know I’ll give it back.”

Kohr also gives back by visiting Africa twice a year with Dynamis World Ministries. On a specific day, all of the store’s sales go towards the cause.

Part of the goal involves creating a way for Zimbabwean kids to go to high school, which costs $40 for each child plus school supplies.

Kohr brings bags and bags of clothes over for the children to try on and keep.

“I love seeing the looks on their faces,” she said, “The clothes make them so happy.”

Kohr involved her children in the donation.

“I made my children give their favorite toy to teach them that you always give your best,” she said.

The kids struggled with the challenge but felt better about their decision when they saw pictures of their toys in smiling children’s arms.

Right now she’s itching to get back to Africa to start working on her next project with the ministry—building an orphanage.

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Kohr explored the pageant world in her 30’s. She was Mrs. Pennsylvania America 1998 and Mrs. Delaware America 2008.

But Kohr wasn’t completely satisfied with herself growing up. She was trying to be “different,” even though that’s a word she’s always disliked.

She would dip her brown hair in bleach.

“I wanted to be Madonna growing up. I wanted to be an American girl,” she said, “I wanted my name to be Lisa. So, my nickname was Ladonna.”

Kohr was experimenting with fashion and her private school hallway was her runway.

“I wasn’t afraid to put anything on,” she said, “I was in the Dean’s office twice a week for my outfits.”

Now, she encourages that same creativeness in young girls.

Annalysa knows better than to ask her mother if something “matches”. It’s another word Kohr’s not too fond of.

“Let’s find something that goes with it, compliments it, but not matches it, please!” Kohr said.

She wants customers to be confident in a Tiger Lili outfit.

“I don’t put mirrors in dressing rooms purposely so the customer has to walk out in it.”

And if a customer picks out a piece that isn’t the right color or fit for her, she’ll let her know.

“I don’t care about the sale. They are representing me.”

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Kohr’s picks for June fashion include army print, short dresses, trendy tops, different shades of pink, and floral patterns. One of her best sellers is the Bubble Coat which sells for $189 and looks amazing on every body shape. A popular purse she refers to as the Plain Jane bag sells for $52.

Although Kohr is willing to sell almost anything, there are a few signature pieces she could absolutely never part with.

Many would think the handbag queen would have a purse for every day of the year. But, Kohr never changes her purse.

“I always carry Louis Vuitton and Gucci vintage,” she said, “I love stuff that has life—that has been lived in.”

Kohr would also never sell one of her coats. She can’t stand being cold so she has acquired quite a collection from Paris and Spain.

The one item she craves but cannot find is a Louis Vuitton vintage trunk.

“I would love to own an old trunk,” she said, “I would think of the person who wore it, where they were going.”

Where is Tiger Lili going in the future?

Kohr hopes to open a store in Pennsylvania, Wilmington, and a third one in Rehoboth.

This Shore woman has quite a balancing act between her boutiques, her family, and everything else that pops up. She currently has 10 employees who work for her in the boutiques.

“There are some tears, some panic attacks,” she said, “I call my sister every hour.”

Her car rides are her quiet time.

“When I’m driving I turn off my phone,” she said, “From here to Bethany twice a day is my set time to pray. God is my balance.”

Kohr’s daughter came up with the name Tiger Lili. Tiger Lili was the Indian princess in Disney’s Peter Pan and it’s a popular flower.

“I love plants. Give me a plant that’s half dead,” she said, “That’s the best challenge.”

The thing that stands out most about Lili Kohr is her zest for life and her passion for fashion.

“To me, I’m on stage all of the time,” she said.