It finally sank in when Karen Ciurca-Weiner drove to her job this week and saw the sign on the brick wall of the building announcing the end.

She sat in the parking lot in her green Honda minivan and cried. She knew it was official. Her job at Vasarri would soon be no more.

"That was probably the saddest day," said Ciurca-Weiner, vice president at the store. "The reality is here."

After 12 years of business, Vasarri, the upscale boutique in Pikesville, will be closing its doors this October when owner Gail Kandel retires. The store has lured women throughout the region to the town just north of Baltimore, a region not awash in high-end shops.

The 68-year-old Pikeville resident made the announcement to customers this week. Kandel's close friends and 10 employees have known for a couple of months.

"I'm very melancholy," said Kandel, who previously owned New York City Shoes, a store that featured $11.90 shoes. "I cry six times a day."

"We have so many great memories," said Ciurca-Weiner, 42, who left her job as a buyer for White House Black Market 11 years ago to work with Kandel. "Our customers have become like family. We've had a lot of great experiences."

Vasarri, which has been able to attract a slew of influential women, including judges, politicians, television personalities and such authors as Anne Rice and Laura Lippman, became popular largely because of the way Kandel and Ciurca-Weiner purchased clothes for the store.

"We buy unique items," said Ciurca-Weiner. "We are always out there finding newness … finding things other stores don't have. We tend to buy things that have a fashion flair and have longevity. We only buy no more than three of an item. Our customers walk around town with an item that is unique to them."

Local fashionistas took notice.

For the better part of the year, stylist Pascale Lemaire, who has been tasked by producers of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of D.C." to dress a number of housewives for national ad campaigns and red-carpet events, has pulled garments from a number of stores and boutiques in the Baltimore area, including Vasarri. Lemaire has also used Kandel's boutique to purchase clothes in her capacity as a personal shopper for several of the show's cast members, including Stacie Scott Turner, the owner of a real estate practice, and Lynda Erkiletian, who owns T.H.E. Artist Agency.

"Right now I am in a dilemma," said Lemaire, who is based in Silver Spring. "I need to find a new boutique. I'm going to have to try someplace else. Vasarri was Old Faithful, and I was in there every other week."

Lemaire, a former fashion editor for Baltimore Magazine, has used Vasarri for more than a decade, stretching back to her editing days.

"I have the option of using anywhere in D.C., but I still go back to Vasarri because they have options that I am not finding anywhere else," said Lemaire. "From Badgley Mischka to Jimmy Choo, Gail was savvy enough to find them all. It will certainly be a loss for Baltimore."

It's surprising that Kandel found herself in the retail business. The daughter of a father who owned a hardware store in Cherry Hill, Kandel vowed as a child not to follow in her father's retail footsteps.

"You learn to never say never," Kandel said with a laugh.

Kandel didn't intend to open a business in Pikesville. But the 5,000-square-foot space called to her.

Designed by Rita St. Clair, the building features ceilings and lighting that Kandel complemented with eclectic gilded marble furniture purchased on a trip to Florida. Kandel's time in Italy inspired the name of the boutique. Shopping trips to New York inspired the clothing.

When Kandel opened Vasarri in January 1999, she thought that she would miss her discount shoe-store roots. She didn't.

"I really love the high-fashion and the expensive stuff," said Kandel, who opened her boutique after closing her five discount shoe stores in Central Maryland. "It's kind of like fresh vegetables. The minute you try fresh vegetables, you can't go back to canned foods. I left $11.90 shoes and never looked back."

Sande Riesett, an advertising executive from Ruxton, has been shopping at Vasarri since returning to Maryland 10 years ago after living in London. She was initially referred to the boutique by friends when she was in search of black-tie wear.

"I didn't have time to go to Chevy Chase or to New York," recalled Riesett, 57. "It was love at first sight."

For years, Riesett only did black-tie shopping at Vasarri. Three years ago, Riesett expanded her shopping at Vasarri to include everyday wear and work clothing. She estimates that 95 percent of her wardrobe comes from the boutique.

"I buy my work clothes, and my bum-around clothes from them," she said, adding that she is depressed about the closing of the boutique. "I really depend on them. I have no idea where I am going to buy now."

The sentiments have been repeated by many longtime customers, according to Ciurca-Weiner.

"Everyone who comes in is giving me hugs," she said. "They have tears in their eyes. I have tears in my eyes."

Kandel added: "I have had so many calls, all starting with, 'Oh no!' Seems I did a good job branding. Everyone thought it was forever. Me too."

"As a professional, I went there for obvious reasons," said stylist Lemaire. "On a personal level, it was an extended fashion family. They would always inquire about how my family was doing. It was really more than just the cordial business relationship. It was a long-standing friendship."

Shoppers will have a little more time to make one last trip to the boutique. Vasarri will feature a retirement sale in which all items are marked down as much as 70 percent. The sale includes fall merchandise.

"It will all be part of a special sale for my fabulous ladies," Kandel said. "Let's leave with a toast to all the goodness and laughter we've shared. Please come visit. … Yes, I really need a hug."

To the chagrin of her husband, Riesett said she planned to go to the store this week to add to her wardrobe.

"Going there is like going to a girlfriend's house," she said. "It is great. And it is also dangerous. As depressed as I am about this store, I don't think my husband is as sorry about them closing."

john-john.williams@baltsun.com