LITTLE VILLAGE — Whether it’s for a quinceañera, prom, graduation or wedding, Kocoy Malagón knows how important it is to find the perfect dress.
There are dozens of dresses on display in Malagón’s showroom at Koco’s Boutique, 3740 W. 26th St., in shades of pink, blue, green and other eye-catching colors. Some are adorned with sparkles and sequins, others with panels of sheer fabric along the midriff or a dramatic leg slit.
“The dress is what defines your style,” Malagón said in Spanish, as she gestured to a dress uniquely designed to showcase a girl’s Mexican heritage. “This dress wouldn’t be found in a regular mall.”
Malagón opened her boutique on Little Village’s West 26th Street last year after having run a dress stall inside the beloved Discount Mall since 2010.
Malagón was one of about 40 small business owners forced to leave the Discount Mall in early 2023 after their landlord wouldn’t renew their leases. It was the conclusion of a unsuccessful, months-long fight between the vendors, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) and mall owner and developer Novak Construction.
The fate of the Discount Mall was in question after 2020, when Novak Construction bought it. Developers didn’t detail their plans for the mall until February 2023, when they announced the south half of the mall would close.
Malagón began looking for a new spot when it was clear the Discount Mall would undergo serious changes, she said. She opened her store shortly after moving in March 2023, and she and her team contacted clients to spread the word about their relaunch.
The move from the mall was difficult, but it also gave Malagón the opportunity to try something new, she said.
After 14 years working in a small stall, the store on 26th Street offers ample space and comfort for a showroom, storage, Malagón’s workshop, fitting rooms and counters to sell products including bouquets, corsages, jewelry and more, she said.
“When we closed in the mall, that forced me to reinvent myself,” Malagón said. At the mall, “I could only display one, maximum two, dresses because the space wasn’t enough for me. When I arrived at this place, we realized we can complement the total package. In one place, people can find practically everything, and this is what a client likes to see.”
Malagón also invested in an embroidery machine to start personalizing some of her products — something she didn’t have the space for in the Discount Mall, she said.
“For whatever reason, things happen … but [the closure] led us to this,” Malagón said of her new boutique.
Thankfully, original customers followed Malagón, along with first timers from the neighborhood looking for alternative places to shop after half the Discount Mall closed, Malagón said. Neighbors have embraced the business, especially younger girls looking for a prom dress, she said.
“What I love most about this space is that people come and take their time, saying ‘It’s OK, I’ll come back in 10 days to pick up my dress, don’t worry about it.’ At the mall, it was, ‘Now or nothing,'” she said.
Shopping at Koco’s Boutique can also be an affair for the entire family, Malagón said. When a birthday girl picks out her quinceañera dress, Malagón can help the mother, godmother and little sister find a dress to complement it at the same time.
“I can give recommendations because I see the quinceañera dress, I’m seeing the tones, the materials,” she said.
This year, prom dress shopping is already in full swing, Malagón said. Some of the most popular colors so far have been fuchsia and sage green, and dresses with sheer textures are very in style right now, she said.
“And black dresses will never leave the market; they’re always going to be fine, elegant options,” she said.
Malagón said one the best parts of the job is recommending dresses that someone wouldn’t have necessarily picked themselves. A girl finds a dress she likes, and based on her and the dress she’s picked out, Malagón asks if she can give two more options.
“And when they try on my recommendations, they say, ‘Oh, wow. On the model, it looked beautiful, but I didn’t think it was going to look like that on me,'” she said.
Malagón and her husband, Jose Santiago, enjoy working day-in and day-out at the boutique.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than working in what you love to do, because you enjoy it,” she said. “It’s not work, it’s a pleasure to do this.”
Koco’s Boutique is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m-6:30 p.m. Sundays.
Photos from Koco’s Boutique:
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