Joliet Clothing Store 'It Is Amazing' Excited For Summer

JOLIET, IL — Diane Harris opened her It Is Amazing clothing store in downtown Joliet's historic Barber Building in the summer of 2018. The coronavirus pandemic brought an end to many retail stores over the past year, but Harris weathered the storm.

"My hope is to do a fashion show in October," Harris told Joliet Patch. She is hoping to partner with the Joliet Area Historical Museum for the event.

The theme will be: Fall Into Fashion, she said. She also plans to have live entertainment. Nowadays, Harris has a piano toward the front of her store at 76 North Chicago St.

What a difference a year makes.

And Harris is happy to have kept her clothing store going despite the enormous challenges from the pandemic. She is one of three clothing stores that operate in downtown Joliet. The others are Sandy's Unique at 28-30 West Clinton St. across from the library and the Amalove Boutique at 152 N. Chicago St.

She said that It Is Amazing stayed closed last year amid the global pandemic from March until August. After she reopened, business was down compared to 2019, "but it wasn't that big of a hit for me," she said. "Around August, it can be pretty slow. We did curbside pickup."

Now that things are returning to normal, Harris hopes to start hosting more regular events at It Is Amazing, events that include free drawings and live music.

She is directly across the street from the Chicago Street Pub, one of downtown Joliet's most popular venues.

What's new with It Is Amazing?

Harris has been stocking her racks with more and more novelty socks. She has novelty socks for police, firefighters, clergy, as well as one themed some of Joliet's neighboring businesses including the Blue Taco restaurant, the Jitters Coffee House and the Audiophil's Records store at 17 East Van Buren St.

"There's a supplier I use out of California," Harris told Patch. "So that's how the novelty socks came about."

Most people don't walk into a clothing store thinking that novelty socks are the first thing they want to buy, she said.

"They're almost like after items," she said. "I like to promote them a little bit because novelty socks tend to be conversation pieces. Novelty socks are pretty popular. "

Harris also has a suggestion box toward the front of her store for customers to offer their feedback on what clothing and accessories It Is Amazing ought to carry in the future.

Most of her clothing is geared toward women, but not all of it.

"We do have men's sportswear," she said. "We can order suits now and that's for men and women."

In the back of her store, Harris has a shelf featuring several Route 66 couch pillows. Other pillows have superhero and movie themes including "Spider Man and pillows featuring "Cars."

Harris also has a rack of clothes in the middle of her store advertising a 75 percent off sale.

"We always have sale items, always," she said.

It Is Amazing also features workout skirts, dress up and casual hats and jewelry.

"My goal is to pick up more customers per month. I want to get back to what we had around 2019 because that was my second year, and we were making our presence known in downtown Joliet. It Is Amazing was getting to be known."

For now, It Is Amazing is open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Harris said she may open on Saturdays in the near future.

The phone for It Is Amazing is 815-582-4995.