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Tough ex-cop nurses her boutique

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNewYork

December 18, 2006

Felina Rakowski-Gallagher may have left the New York City Police Department to start her own business, but she still plays one tough cop. The former police officer's no-nonsense approach to running her breast-feeding boutique, The Upper Breast Side, has helped the business flourish since it opened in 1999.

It will soon reopen in a bigger location a block away from the current store at 220 W. 71st St.

"I know businesses are supposed to please customers every single time, but that doesn't work in my store," said Rakowski-Gallagher, who launched The Upper Breast Side after she faced the challenges of nursing and finding the appropriate breast-feeding products for her first child.

"There are too many personalities and emotions," she said, referring to the dozens of pregnant and new moms shopping daily in the cramped space. "I put my foot down when someone is pushing the plate too far."

For example, Rakowski-Gallagher said, some moms try to return used nursing bras. "What planet did you just fall off of?" is usually her immediate response before restating the store's no-returns policy for certain apparel.

"I'm too small to be some of these stores that take [products] back no matter what. I can't run my business like that."

Instead, she aims to provide expecting and new moms one-on-one consultation and fittings, a place for all the necessities of nursing, including bras, pumps and shirts. "You bring your breasts, we've got the rest," the store's Web site boasts.

Customers can also speak with an on-site lactation consultant.

"It's totally different when someone walks you through it and makes it not intimidating," Rakowski-Gallagher said. "There are people who think they can't breast-feed. They can. It's a learned behavior."

"I would have bought the wrong-size bra," said 5-months pregnant Danyelle Simpson, who made a trip to the Upper West Side store from her home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. She said she plans on continuing to shop at the store even after moving to Virginia with her family in the next few weeks.

"I came before the move so I can have my records on file and have [items] shipped to me," Simpson said as she patiently waited to purchase a nursing bra and three nursing shirts, which she plans on wearing during her pregnancy and throughout the nursing process. She spent about $250.

"I don't mind paying if I know the products are going to last me," she said.

As a sign of growth and exceeding demand, The Upper Breast Side is moving to 135 W. 70th St. The new space, slated to open in about two months, is 900 square feet, 300 square feet bigger than the current store.

"You need to make customers comfortable, but we are barely able to do that if it¹s busy in the store," Rakowski-Gallagher said.

"People are basically waiting in the hallway to wait for a bra fitting and that's not right."

Farnoosh Torabi is a video correspondent for thestreet.com. Reach her at amSmallBusiness@gmail.com.