Hillary's Valentine for Business Friends

Hillary Scharf, owner of Hillary's Fashion Boutique, is building a special network of local businesses, using her store's own marketing efforts to highlight places she hopes to encourage her customers to try.

And not coincidentally, all of the other businesses are owned by women, like hers.

In a special Valentine's Day event, the store's marketing e-mail blast to about 1,200 customers will include offers from Nuray's Gourmet Cafe, TRU Salon + Spa, and , in Berkeley Heights.

Plus, the store will be serving some items from the bake shop on Saturday, for customers to enjoy while they shop (there will be special discounts for the store's patrons, too).

"Whet we're trying to do is keep the 'local' in local," Laura Melesius, who works at the store, said.

Scharf said the connection with the other businesses grew out of her and her employees' love of the shops.

"We loved them so well, we wanted to make sure everybody went there," Scharf said. 

The attitude of sharing isn't some new concept at Hilary's, though—the store regularly donates clothing at the end a season if it hasn't sold.

"I figure I've done what I could with it, sold what I could," Scharf said, noting the store often donates the new clothes to area shelters, such as the Franciscan Charities in Newark, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Bridgewater, Anderson House in Whitehouse Station, or FISH Inc. in Dunellen.

"We're seeking out charities—especially those helping women," Melesius said.