Oklahoma City’s Balliets recognized as Harper’s Bazaar Style Leader for sixth year

OKLAHOMA CITY- “Harper’s Bazaar” today announced Balliets, Oklahoma City’s premier women’s retailer, has been named a “Harper’s Bazaar Style Leader”.

Balliets joins the prestigious group of the best specialty stores in America, as chosen by the magazine’s editors and other important industry figures.

“Women’s specialty stores have a unique place in fashion retailing,” said Valerie Salembier, “Harper’s Bazaar’s” senior vice president and publisher. “’Harper’s Bazaar’s Style Leaders’ provide high-quality customer service and luxurious products, resulting in a personalized shopping experience that our readers truly appreciate. ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ is proud to salute Balliets and America’s ‘Style Leaders’, the top tier of women’s fashion specialty stores.”

Balliets owner Bob Benham is no stranger to this honor as the magazine has named Balliets “Style Leader” for the past six years. Balliets is one of only two stores in Oklahoma to receive this recognition, with Tulsa’s Miss Jackson’s also making the list of 74 specialty stores across the nation.

“We are honored to receive this acknowledgment from one of the most respected publications in the industry,” Benham said. “This year we’ve taken our store to a whole new level of luxury, and I’m thrilled to see industry leaders take notice of our commitment to providing unsurpassed style and elegance to the women of Oklahoma City.”

Balliets recently relocated to the Classen Curve, an innovative restaurant and retail complex developed by Chesapeake Energy and designed by Elliott + Associates Architects. The new store is a two-story work of art featuring clothing from top designers combined with attractive price points. Balliets also offers a second-floor cosmetics bar and secluded spa providing customers with a unique, intimate shopping experience.

“This modern Main Street has allowed us to spoil our customers with chic design and effortless convenience,” Benham said.  “There’s no better place to be in Oklahoma City than Classen Curve.”

The complete list of “Style Leaders” can be found in the September 2010 issue of “Harper’s Bazaar” on page 224.

About Classen Curve

Classen Curve (www.classencurve.com), the 94,000 square foot retail and restaurant complex is located just southwest of the 40-acre Chesapeake Energy corporate campus. The new center is a central part of a vision of Chesapeake’s CEO Aubrey McClendon to create a vibrant retail, entertainment and business district northwest OKC. The first tenant to open in the Classen Curve was 105 Degrees restaurant in the fall of 2009.

About Balliets

Located in a 17,000 square foot space on the Classen Curve, Balliets (www.balliets.com)  provides the finest that fashion has to offer in apparel, accessories, jewelry, shoes and cosmetics, including Prada, Etro, Bobbi Brown, Akris Punto, Jimmy Choo, Miu Miu, Trish McEvoy and more. As Oklahoma City’s premier women’s retailer, Balliets has been providing the community with luxurious products and unequaled customer service since 1936. Balliets is owned and operated by Bob and DeDe Benham and their daughter Lisa Benham Shinn.

About “Harper’s Bazaar”

Sophisticated, elegant and provocative, “Harper’s Bazaar” (www.bazaar.com) is the style resource for women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture. With authority and insider insight, “Harper’s Bazaar” showcases the work of visionary stylists, expressive photographers and talented designers, covering what’s new to what’s next. Founded in 1867, “America’s first fashion magazine” also has 32 editions in countries around the world. “Harper’s Bazaar” is published by Hearst Magazine, a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) and one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with nearly 200 editions around the world, including U.S. titles and 19 magazines in the United Kingdom, published through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited. Hearst reaches more adults than any other publisher of monthly magazines (75.6 million total adults to MRI, Spring 2008).

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