“I just want to be… sorry one moment…” says Sarah Jessica Parker, excusing herself to straighten a few strappy sandals slightly askew on the lucite shelving lining her boutique.

“I just want to be deserving of their confidence and money that they spend… and I’m just, sorry…” she trails, flitting off again to align two pairs of pumps. “It’s nice because everyone wants to touch things but it’s like, ahhh… I have to let that go once the store opens.”

The moments of thinly-veiled perfectionism are endearing, like most aspects of Parker's charming but serious persona, which has been heightened by the gravitas of the day. In less than 24 hours, the actress and designer would open her store in Maryland's newly constructed MGM National Harbor, a behemoth of a resort and casino on the banks of the Potomac River, 20 minutes outside of Washington, D.C. It's her first free-standing, brick-and-mortar store, carrying her line of shoes, SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker, and new addition, LBD by SJP, a line of little black evening dresses uk and bags.

“I’m ner-cited,” she says. “It’s terrifying, but everyone keeps saying that shouldn’t be your point of emotional operation. So I’ve started saying that I’m excited and nervous.”

The store is a big leap for Parker, 51, who launched her eponymous brand in 2014 with partner George Malkemus III, CEO of Manolo Blahnik. It's also unfamiliar geographic territory for the star who came to symbolize New York City for so many women after Sex and the City. But the reason she went to the nation's capital instead of the streets of Manhattan is straightforward: “MGM asked, it was kind of that simple.”

Parker caught the eye of Sarah Moore, executive director of retail and marketing for MGM National Harbor, after she held a pop-up at The Shops at Crystals in Las Vegas in 2015. Moore called Malkemus and asked if they’d be interested in becoming the only retail store MGM would be investing in for the new $1.4 billion project. It was a vote of confidence Parker needed as she and Malkemus worked to differentiate the brand in a crowded market.

The pair, who have known each other for years, have identified their niche: Italian leather and fine craftsmanship at a price point lower than most high-end designers. That's not saying they're cheap, however. At around $350 a pair, they're less than the $900 price tag Malkemus can command at Manolo, but above what most women spend, a fact not lost on Parker.

"We’re not cavalier about that. On the other hand, I can’t make a cheap shoe that is going to break, not feel comfortable, slip and slide all over the pavement, and feel good about it."

To emphasize the point, she plucks a glistening heel with delicate T-strap from the shelf, explaining the complexity of incorporating padding into the thin sole, another hallmark of the brand.

"We're monogamous to the single sole," she says, referencing the flat base of the shoes. "We don’t mess around, we don't flirt, we don’t have affairs, there are no extra-curricular relationships with platforms."

And with that relationship analogy, it's as if Carrie Bradshaw, the namesake of the best-selling heel in her hands, has entered the pink-tinted room.

"George! Oh George! Come say hi!" she squeaks, calling Malkemus over in that infectious tone that won over so many fans in HBO's mega-hit.

It's a character she's never really shed, nor one she wants to. It helped bring her back to HBO, which recently renewed Divorce, starring Parker and Thomas Haden Church as a couple whose long marriage has come apart.

And the business partners know that Carrie is the third ingredient to the recipe of their footwear successes.

"She will sometimes say, '10 million women got to know me because of Carrie Bradshaw,' and for me, as her partner, it’s a lovely thing to get to say she respects that," Malkemus says, launching into a story about discovering an underground following of the show on a trip to Dubai.

The character, and Parker herself, are so tied to the accessory, it sets a devotional atmosphere that envelops the store. It's a mecca for the shoe-obsessed, a sanctuary helmed by the woman who introduced many people, via TV, to the pinnacle of the craft. And her followers were already lining up for worship during the casino's grand opening party Thursday night.

"There is that big chunk of my life spent, and George was involved in a lot of that, that connects back to this relationship: shoes. With Carrie it was a very fevered relationship. For me, it’s an admiration, and affection."

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