http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2009/03/hudson_boutique_grey_colt_aims.html 
by: Evelyn Theiss - Plain Dealer Reporter : Tuesday March 31, 2009, 8:00 AM

When it comes to longevity, The Grey Colt in Hudson has shown it's got legs.

The women's boutique on the village's historic main street celebrates its 50th year in business this spring.

Owner Katie Coulton first started coming to the store to "help out" when she was in fourth grade. Her mother, Patty Coulton, had started the business in 1959; the "Colt" part of the boutique's name comes from Coulton. When it opened, the women's boutique had a smaller second-floor location, on the same street but in the block of shops with Learned Owl bookstore.

Then, in 1962, The Grey Colt moved to a bigger space where it's been ever since. The walls are dove gray, in keeping with the name, and offer a subtle backdrop to an extensive, eclectic inventory of apparel.  What with Katie Coulton's dad being a Princeton grad, and Hudson being the upscale village it is, there was naturally going to be a preppy bent to the boutique.

"At first, it was styled after the Bermuda Shoppe [in New York] and Carroll Reed and Talbots, the way Talbots used to be," says Coulton. "It was an East Coast thing, with Fair Isle sweaters and plaid Bermudas."

But the store evolved over the years, and it began attracting a younger crowd as well as those girls' moms.  Now, you'll find cool and somewhat surprising items, including authentic Marimekko-print accessories, tops and dresses as well as youthful lines like Free People, Project E., Amy Tangerine and Vineyard Vine, which looks like a cousin to Lilly Pulitzer.  Mature customers like offerings by Flax and Eileen Fisher, says Coulton, and varied sweaters and jackets abound.

Coulton officially started working in the store in the 1970s, so she's been through several iterations of preppy fashion. That's why she has diversified, focusing on clothing that's wearable, but has a memorable "something extra."

"It's a small town, and we want to provide clothing for all different age groups," she says. "I'm 60, so I know it can be harder to dress with flair when you're older, but you can."

The store rounds out its selections with accessories: from jewelry, to hats, headbands, belts and shoes, as well as coats.

Coulton has been pulling clothes from past decades to create a display celebrating The Grey Colt's anniversary and evolution. "It's funny to go back and look at clothes from the 1950s, '60s and '70s, because they're not so different from what's in style now," she says. "But I also see we haven't veered from our overall concept too much -- traditional with a twist."           

Now, of course, Hudson also has its First & Main shopping district, right behind The Grey Colt. Which is great, says Coulton: "It's made Hudson even more of a destination."