When one door closes, another opens. For San Jose resident Laura Jaeger, it was the closing of one business and the opening of another, a boutique in downtown Campbell.

Santa Clara's Jaeger Group, which specialized in technical job placement for engineers, had a 10-year run, but as the economy worsened, Jaeger gradually laid off most of her employees. Not one to waste space, she started selling clothes by a talented young fashion designer -- her daughter, Jessie, who started a womenswear line called Toast four years ago.

"People really gravitate toward Jessie's line," says Jaeger, 58. "It's very wearable and interactive -- you can change yourself, wear it different ways." Draped silhouettes in rayon stretch and jersey knits are a signature of the line, which features striking colors and artful details.

Jessie, a 34-year-old Oakland resident who completed the fashion design program at West Valley College, had reached her own career turning point. Like many small designers, she had a handful of wholesale accounts, worked with sales representatives and attended trade shows but was struggling to stay in business.

"Right after 9/11, I seriously considered getting out," she says. "I was interviewing and looking around. Then the store concept came up. We had been doing sample sales out of my mom's office, and (Toast) always sold well in the South Bay. I left the inventory down there, and she just started selling it. Our dressing room was a cubicle, with clothing hanging from cube walls."

Laura also started taking the rack of clothes to events -- "I was selling that rack like crazy" -- and by August 2002 had converted the office to a makeshift boutique. She and her husband started scouting locations and stumbled upon Campbell. The timing was serendipitous: They found a makeup shop that was moving to Santana Row and had about the same amount of time left on its lease. "It was meant to be," Jaeger says. "I love being here. I can't wait to get here."

Toast opened in June, and Jessie credits Laura with helping build the clientele and make the boutique a success. "My mom's personality really adds to the draw. It was a total natural for her to do this." Laura loves talking to customers and finding looks that suit them. She's also become interested in merchandising the various separates and accessories.

In addition to Toast, Toastshop carries Dayna Hinson's minimalist jewelry, handmade and fabric handbags from Steph Scheafer and Offhand Designs, Indian silver jewelry and scarves, and local clothing lines Q, Maximum and Emozione.

Jessie describes Campbell as a "little Midwestern town crossed with a very hip artist community." The historic downtown boasts its fair share of coffee shops, services and art stores, but is just now starting to attract more fashion. Toastshop displays local artists' work and hosts art openings, trunk shows and the occasional fashion show on the back patio. The first one featured a salsa lesson, with hair and makeup done by neighboring businesses, including Faux, an edgy hair salon across the street.

Brick vestiges, high-beamed ceilings and fir floors hint at the store's past as a former prune-drying facility. Racks of clothes take up the bulk of the space, but a few pieces epitomize Jessie and Laura's aesthetic: Metal pallets hanging on the pale green walls were found by Jessie in Oakland, as was the retro toaster near the cash register; a glass display case in the front filled with dried hydrangea blossoms was Laura's idea, as were the stuffed Audubon Society birds that chirp when squeezed.

"It's been a really nice change for me to focus on the store and have the freedom to produce what I really feel like doing, then get the orders from the others based on what I'm doing in the store," Jessie says.

Toast's spring line, arriving in the store this month, draws on a rose palette, from pale pink to hot pink and rust tones. "I'm sort of layering a lot of shades of pink, some really soft and really dark," the designer adds. Some of her popular tops will be interpreted as dresses. She's also playing with contrast, using burn-out organza and menswear pinstripes in pants and tunics. Jessie may explore maternity clothes in the future; customers have requested it and have told her that some of her styles already lend themselves to use by pregnant women.

Both Jaegers say the clientele, like the store, reflects their partnership: working women, mothers and daughters -- "really from 20 to 60," Jessie says. "We try to find something for everyone."

Toastshop, 381 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; (408) 378-8558. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays, until 8 p.m. most Thursdays. Closed Mondays. For other Bay Area stores that carry Toast, see www.toastshop.com.

Laura Compton, Chronicle Staff Writer
E-mail Laura Compton at lcompton@sfchronicle.com.