About Us

"To walk into Boomerang is to know style and delight in flair…"

-The Vermont Observer, March 2007

Almost immediately following its opening in the summer of 1999, Boomerang became a Southern Vermont destination and an award-winning local institution drawing a large and loyal customer base from all points of the greater Northeast. Boomerang has also been credited for being one of the first independently owned businesses to help shape the formidable revitalization of Brattleboro's historic downtown.

Offering an eclectic, urban-spirited, and high-style mix of new, used, and vintage clothing for men and women—along with an ever-changing selection of shoes, jewelry, and accessories—Boomerang began as a vague and somewhat unlikely plan in the latter half of the '90s, no less than three thousand miles west of Main Street Brattleboro.

In the fall of '96, Matt Maranian and Loretta Palazzo—then newly-married, living in Los Angeles, and pursuing careers in publishing and the entertainment industry respectively—made a first-time tour through Southern Vermont on a New England road trip in search of little more than autumn leaves, comfort food, and good junk barns. Gripped with the uncanny feeling that they had "come home" immediately after crossing the state line and intrigued by the opportunities that the charming, idiosyncratic, and often-celebrated-yet-largely-undiscovered community of Brattleboro had to offer, they soon began formulating their new life; one that would combine their love of Vermont with their talents for merchandising and their passion for design, style, and vintage apparel.

Eager to leave Los Angeles in their dust, after nearly three years of subsequent visits and careful planning, the couple uprooted and relocated. As many predicted, Boomerang was an immediate success.

“We wanted to offer something the town didn’t already have on Main Street,” Maranian explains, the bestselling author of the Los Angeles subculture book L.A. Bizarro, and the style books PAD and PAD Parties—who also designed the store’s interior. “We wanted to give locals more reasons to get excited about shopping downtown, and we wanted to give tourists more reasons to stop and experience what this extraordinary corner of Vermont has to offer. Although the Brattleboro area is a sort of secret you want to keep to yourself, there's also this urge to share it riches with everyone you know and shout it from the rooftops.”

Amid Boomerang's pistachio striped walls and Pacific Coast-meets-New England woodlands décor, retro-styled classics pack the racks alongside fashion-forward lines, high-end resale, and designer vintage pieces. Artful political tees and one-of-a-kind hand crafted jewelry round out a jumble of expertly edited wares, all subject to the savvy eye and fun-loving spirit of Palazzo, a former actress turned retail dynamo who prefers to keep the business on a short leash, working the floor herself—along with Boomerang's famously helpful staff—five days a week.

Having outgrown their previous two locations, the store moved into their third, and presumably final, spot in the heart of downtown Brattleboro in the spring of '07. The new space allowed the business more square feet for merchandise, as well as a ceiling high enough to accommodate the fervid energy that electrifies the Boomerang atmosphere on any given day. It's not entirely uncommon to see customers dancing in the aisles or shrieking with delight over a life-altering find on the dress rack or at the shoe display. "Right after we made our move into this bigger space, a woman walked in," Palazzo says with a chuckle, "and squealed OH MY GOD! This is my dream come true: a big, huge Boomerang! We get raves daily, but that was probably the nicest compliment we've ever received."

Boomerang continues to grow, evolve and reinvent itself, always staying on top of its game and looking toward its future. “It’s funny," Maranian says, "but it wasn't until our eighth year in business that we felt like we had landed in the right spot in the right space at the right time.”