RAREBIRD HOURS:
Monday-Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am -5:00pm
Located at 1282 N Palm Avenue, on the south side of the entrance to Bay Plaza.
Phone: (941) 362-4196
Email: partners@loverarebird.com
Kiki and Eric are the owners and founders of RAREBIRD, the newest elevated bohemian boutique in downtown Sarasota. As avid travelers, they bring a fresh perspective on the items people use and interact with every day. Inspired by the cultures, food, music, and communities that make a place what it is, they aspire to continue seeking out opportunities to learn and explore exotic locations — and ways of living.
RAREBIRD’s mission is to offer customers that same sense of joy and wonder they get from traveling and exploring the cultures of other countries. It’s the combination of the diverse energy, colors, textures, and all-encompassing beauty that is the human experience that they hope to convey through the shopping experience offered at RAREBIRD.
Originally from Baltimore, Kiki traveled with her family often as a child and was raised in international circles as her parents had spent 8 years in Vienna, Austria while her father attended medical school. After earning a degree in literature, Kiki relocated to San Diego and later lived in Santa Barbara and LA as well, working as a professional chef. She was fortunate to have also worked as an executive chef in a restaurant in Biarritz, France and a private chef for a chateau in Mirabeau, France near Aix en Provence.
Eric, who was born in Kansas City and raised in both Kansas City and Belgium, was formerly in the IT and printing and imagining industry and owns LaserEquip, a printer supplies, sales and service company in Springfield, Missouri. Upon relocating, Eric started a home renovation and flipping business and later became the operations manager for Murray Premier Services at Murray homes.
Following her career as a chef, Kiki redirected her focus to earning a master’s degree in Integrative and Functional Nutrition and Integrative Wellness Coaching with plans of returning to San Diego to establish a practice. With Covid changing the landscape of so many things as it did, returning to California proved to be more challenging than anticipated and with her mom recently retiring to Tampa, Kiki and Eric, then newlyweds, decided to give Florida a whirl instead.
Admittedly, it has been a tumultuous 4 years getting adjusted to new kinds of natural disasters; hurricanes instead of fires, earthquakes and tornadoes, and dealing with some unexpected health challenges and career path reassessments but, Kiki and Eric are deeply humbled and grateful for this new opportunity and eagerly embrace this exciting adventure as we work to etch out a space for RAREBIRD in the burgeoning downtown Sarasota community.
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