Boutique

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A boutique, from the French word for "shop," is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specialises in elite and fashionable items, such as clothes and jewelry. It can also refer to a specialized firm, such as a boutique investment bank or boutique law firm. In such cases, the idea is that the operation is elite and highly specialized.

In the strictest sense of the word, boutiques would be one-of-a-kind, but more generally speaking, some chains can be referred to as boutiques if they specialize in particularly stylish offerings. In the US, Sharper Image might be described as a boutique chain or selling boutique items. In Japan, chains such as 3 Minutes Happiness, MUGI, and RanKing are well-known boutiques.

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