Brighton Business Spotlight: Impulse

After a 20-year career in business administration, Gail Sherman decided to cash in her 401(k) in order to open her own store. was born in October 2003, and Sherman said she's been working seven days a week ever since.

Eight years later, Impulse — a women's clothing boutique — has been named the Best Place to Buy Jeans and Best Cutting-Edge Fashions in the HOUR Detroit Magazine 2011 The Best Of Detroit contest.

"I have always been a boutique shopper, and there's hundreds of them all over the United States and in Europe that all carry the same brands and the same clothing that we do," Sherman said. "I lived out here, and I had to go to Birmingham or Farmington — there was nothing here. So I felt that the demand was here. And obviously so, because we've been very successful."

Sherman, a Brighton resident, said that when she chose Brighton for her business location, many people were under the misconception that the area was all cornfields.

"Brighton has a very affluent population," she said. "We have very fashionalbe women, some that own businesses. The women here are beautiful."

Impulse's average customer age range lies between 25 and 65 years old. The store fits women from sizes 0 to 12. The boutique is also the only store in Michigan that carries Diesel brand women's fashions.

Sherman noted that designer denim is the best quality denim fabric, so the jeans her store carries don't bag out or wear out.

Sherman often travels to New York and other places to find the right product lines to carry in her store.

"I'm shopping for my clientele," Sherman said. "I am over 50k so I am very in tune to what most women are looking for."

Impulse is open Monday - Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. for customer convenience.

For more information, visit impulseclothinglines.com.