ABOUT - The Owners
Kim Gilhool
Pimlico is a culmination of Kim Gilhool's past professional experiences, having worked in advertising & marketing, retail, and at top NYC based interior design firms. Her skills honed from each job lend themselves perfectly to the role of store owner/designer. At the Ad Council (a non-profit advertising agency), among her clients were the parents of John Hinckley Jr., the mentally ill young man who tried to assassinate President Reagan. Together, they successfully created a national, multi media ad campaign to combat the stigma attached to mental illness – which was during that time a "taboo" subject.
During her years at Ralph Lauren, she managed the national sales promotion program, which involved working with the clothing designers and merchandising teams to produce inspirational pieces aimed at directing Polo creative teams across the country in terms of propping, styling and merchandising. A far cry from the non-profit world, she was exposed to Bruce Weber photography, the highest quality production, bigger budgets and most importantly: the "lifestyle" concept of design. There was also a year long stint managing Lexington Gardens in New York, which was very rewarding creatively as Lexington Gardens was the first store of its kind, incorporating the outdoor garden with the interior decor. The avant garde style of Lexington Gardens introduced the now de rigueur moss ball as a chic accessory, which continues to be a staple in Pimlico today.
While these positions were vastly different, there were also surprisingly many similarities. Kim points out "I've always had a client, a budget, a timeline and a goal that we've had to work together to reach. The goals and the motivation have been different at each organization I've worked at, but I've always had to think about what my client's needs are, what can I bring to the table to help bring their vision to life, and how can we approach this with the most creative impact?" When Kim moved out of NYC to New Canaan in 1999 with her husband and three daughters, she saw an opportunity in founding Pimlico to put all this experience to good use, and has loved the challenge of maintaining the fresh and unexpected look that Pimlico continues to offer.