Opening & Operating a Retail Store / Boutique (Brick & Mortar or On-Line)

[Ladyee Boutique]

I guess I am very late to the party but I've opened a store about year and a half ago so I may be able to answer of the questions.

- LOCATION is the key as well as knowing your target customers. Unfortunately, as everything in life, you can't insist on your own style all the time if you want to succeed. You may think something may be tacky but that could the bestseller in your store. (It happens way more than I would like to acknowledge.)

- Try not to compete. Try to take yourself out of the competition by exceling in customer service and indivuality. What worked for me the most was our ability to make the customers feel at home. No matter who walks in we treat them like our friends and family. We offer honest opinions and once that trust is built, the rest is easy. Also, from the get-go I tried to offer things that others didn't have. When people were still head over heels over jeans and tshirts, I didnt offer any. I offered polished and well made clothes that could be added to the trend (the trend I despised...IMHO, jeans and tshirts are not real fashion.) Try not to compete with prices. You will never win as a small boutique. Try to offer indivuality and uniqueness.

- It's a bit obvious but I notice it all the time. Please keep the store CLEAN and well organized. It makes a huge difference as someone walks in.

- Finally it takes much more cash flow than even I thought it would. Make sure you have enough cash to pay for your inventory for about a year or so.

- Biggest challenge for me was and still is employees. It's very difficult to find a good one so when you find someone you like, compensate her fairly and treat her well. You never know when the next one will come along.

- Finally, try working at a boutique and learn the ropes. I did that for about a year and that experience was priceless.

Staying focus on what you want is the key IMO. Also, expect to make mistakes until you figure out exactly what works. Tell the salespeople you are new so you want to start with a smaller order and ask for their help. They want to sell but always want you to succeed as well so you could keep coming back. Some of the mistakes I've made were very costly but I learned.

Hope it all makes sense.

Thank you very much Annabel! This is awesome info and very true.

 

[kimberwyn]

Annabel, your input is SO helpful, thanks for posting that! Where is your store? And what brands do you carry?

- Finally it takes much more cash flow than even I thought it would. Make sure you have enough cash to pay for your inventory for about a year or so.

Yeah, this is something I learned the hard way :|

Btw, I always get asked how much it costs to start up a boutique, but I don't have a physical boutique so I always tell people 75k-100k because that's what Ive heard. Does that sound about right??

 

[annabel_lee]

Start up cost for me was much more than that. It depends on the space you choose and how much it needs. My store is a little under 1400 sq ft. To be safe, I think you need at least $400k. The inventory is the biggest cost especially if you want to carry a decent selection from each designer.

I lean more towards European design so bulk of my orders are from below:

Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood
C'N'C by Costume National
McQ by Alexander McQueen
Frankie Morrello
Custo of Barcelona
Nanushka
Flavio Castellani

And I mix in few other less know designers if I think it is unique and special pieces. When I order accessories, that's how make decisions as well. I try to order limited quantities as well since the pieces are bit unique and the point would be lost if everyone has one.

My store is in Los Angeles so it is not the easiest area to be in business but I saw an opportunity and so far I can't complain. It is still new so I am enjoying what I am doing. I just worry that economy won't recover anytime soon.

 

[Ladyee Boutique]

Start up cost for me was much more than that. It depends on the space you choose and how much it needs. My store is a little under 1400 sq ft. To be safe, I think you need at least $400k. The inventory is the biggest cost especially if you want to carry a decent selection from each designer.

I lean more towards European design so bulk of my orders are from below:

Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood
C'N'C by Costume National
McQ by Alexander McQueen
Frankie Morrello
Custo of Barcelona
Nanushka
Flavio Castellani

And I mix in few other less know designers if I think it is unique and special pieces. When I order accessories, that's how make decisions as well. I try to order limited quantities as well since the pieces are bit unique and the point would be lost if everyone has one.

My store is in Los Angeles so it is not the easiest area to be in business but I saw an opportunity and so far I can't complain. It is still new so I am enjoying what I am doing. I just worry that economy won't recover anytime soon.

Wow! That's a lot but your store is quite high end so I can imagine it will more than pay off. You have some fabulous designers there, I love costume national, Custo Barcelona and Vivienne Westwood. I wish you many many sales and years of continued success. Thank you so much for taking the time out to educate us newbies, we are very appreciative

 

[high maintenance]

Guys, sorry that your questions havent been answered yet. I miss the days when this thread was really active. Im trying to help the best I can but keep in mind that IM new at this too.

high maintenance- That's an ambitious goal, but good for you for going for it! It's ALWAYS worth a try. Your design will always be a good way to distinguish yourself. Come up w/ a unique way for customers to view your merchandise, perhaps. Like how Blaec.com has that "window shopping" thing on the main page. Their entire layout makes them unique. You should work w/ a programmer to come up with something special.

Fashiongirl1 - So basically you want to design your own clothing and sell it in your own retail stores, right? If you want to start a fashion line, no one can stop you just because you havent gone to school for it. But it always helps to get an education in design, construction AND manufacturing (like I went through the product dev course at FIDM and I learned all of this) or at least have work experience to learn it. If you're looking to start a clothing line you'll need to have the designs and specs and then find a factory to produce them. Usually you can email a spec out to a factory overseas and they'll get back to you fairly quickly about how much it will cost to produce it. Or you can go through a company like sewingamerica.com and they go through all stages of development (patternmaking, production, etc). I don't know which is better or anything else about it. This is just what I learned, I dont have personal experience with it. I hope that helps though!




1. Sounds spot on to me. There are wholesale only showrooms back there, and merchandise is pretty fun and sporty but very affordable.

2. The best way is probably to travel around and look at other boutiques. You could probably get some design magazines for ideas too. Top Design on Bravo has nice ideas too.

3. Well, when I start my physical store I'll probably look into Closet World, lol. Its worth a try.

4. It'll work.


Ladyee Boutique - You should tell us more about your boutique! What kind of stuff do you sell? Is it online? I'd love to look at it!

KIMBERWYN-THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR THAT, THAT IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA!

 

[kimberwyn]

^Glad I could be of help!

Annabel, that wasnt the number I was hoping to hear, LOL! Thanks for all the input though. You have some great brands; your shop is such a huge achievement on your part!

 

[annabel_lee]

I have learned the hard way so I hope I could be of some help.

Good luck everyone!!!

 

[Ladyee Boutique]

I'll also like to add a little advice regarding owning an online boutique- Use mannequins instead of real bodies. It will alleviate a lot of stress, it's hard finding the right model with the right body type etc. It's such a chore. I currently have real bodies on my website but will be transitioning to mannequins shortly. You can always add a lookbook with models.

 

[kimberwyn]

^I really like the models on your website, LadyeeBoutique. They're pretty and it's cool that you used women of color AND girls with figures! Other people in this thread have mentioned sales going up when using real models. But I know what you mean, I only use mannequinns and Id be really scared to use real people because they can be unreliable, it would take so much longer to change the clothing and I'd be afraid of them eating while wearing the clothes or something. Did you go through an agency to find your models??

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

I have learned the hard way so I hope I could be of some help.

Good luck everyone!!!

1400sq ft for 400k, that s pretty reasonable. in my country it would cost a million dollars. that s what s still keeping me from getting my store.
am looking and looking but prices are extremelly high and we don t have such thing as an economical crisis, if anything it s the opposit!!!!!!!

 

[cherryliphoto]

discount website business

Hi all!
there's lots of educational threads on the operations of a retail store --where to get the merchandise, how to try to stock certain designers...etc...but does anyone know how the discount/sample sale webstores get their stuff?

I heard that giltgroupe get them directly from the designers, while others get them from wholesalers. does anyone know the who/where/how's?

I want to open a discount/sample sale online boutique, and it would never be as big as loehmann's, so how/where would a small boutique get their merchandise from?

I saw a tiny (I mean tiny) but really cute discount boutique near me, so it must be doable, right?

 

[Chanel_Ivan]

Start up cost for me was much more than that. It depends on the space you choose and how much it needs. My store is a little under 1400 sq ft. To be safe, I think you need at least $400k. The inventory is the biggest cost especially if you want to carry a decent selection from each designer.

I lean more towards European design so bulk of my orders are from below:

Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood
C'N'C by Costume National
McQ by Alexander McQueen
Frankie Morrello
Custo of Barcelona
Nanushka
Flavio Castellani

And I mix in few other less know designers if I think it is unique and special pieces. When I order accessories, that's how make decisions as well. I try to order limited quantities as well since the pieces are bit unique and the point would be lost if everyone has one.

My store is in Los Angeles so it is not the easiest area to be in business but I saw an opportunity and so far I can't complain. It is still new so I am enjoying what I am doing. I just worry that economy won't recover anytime soon.

Wow great designers. How did you go about obtaining the merchandise? I would like to open a boutique within five years here in Atlanta (buckhead) and I'm trying to learn as much as I can now. I will have completed my MFA in luxury fashion & management at SCAD. I'm excited

 

[iamumu]

i'm so glad i just got the invitation to tfs! .

this is really a great thread, i'm always dreaming to have a boutique of my own. but my situation is very different from most of you guys. my husband is an international student in the US. my visa is not allowed me to work here, so i cannot work in the fashion industry as a start. and there is no school in our area offereing majors such as fashion and machendising. it seems that i can do nothing to make my dream true. but there is one thing that i can think of to get myself a start, which we call "buy for customs". because the duty fee is extremely heavy for international named brands, especially luxry brands in our country. so i can buy things my customers want in the US/EU and then mail to them. the money i can get from this kind of thing is very limited. but i think it's really a great oppertunity for me to cultivate fashion sense and know the market without investment and risk.

i haven't started yet. people do such kind of business usually buy things from department store. i'm just wondering if there is any possibility that i could get authentic designer goods at discounted prices from other channel. i know there are some "unauthurised" boutiques selling authentic designer goods. i'm really curious about how they get their products.

i don't know if i make it clear

 

[pook427]

*tFS newbie here*

I am so happy to have found this thread!! You have all provided some valuable information.

It has always been my dream as well to open my own boutique. One thing I have learned from this thread so far is how drastically low I estimated startup costs to be!! I definitely thought I could get away with $100k, and am somewhat shocked at the $400k reference. Was that for a premium designer boutique (i.e. Chloe, D&G etc)? I am planning on waiting a couple of years to save money, and wait until the economy gets better, but could those who are a boutique owner weigh in a bit more on the cost of starting their store?

Thank you all so much!!

 

[annabel_lee]

Wow great designers. How did you go about obtaining the merchandise? I would like to open a boutique within five years here in Atlanta (buckhead) and I'm trying to learn as much as I can now. I will have completed my MFA in luxury fashion & management at SCAD. I'm excited

Buckhead is an excellent location!!!! I thought about opening there too. Lot of people there who do not know how to spend their money.

Go to shows - i.e. D&A and Coterie in NYC. Two big shows for fall and spring and there are smaller shows for in between seasons. http://enkshows.com/ NY is most comprehensive so I would go to that initially. More of the exclusive lines do not participate in the shows so you would need to research and such. In the beginning, expect lot of rejections. Some will not give you the merchandise until your store is open. Also, make sure you have a high limit credit cards. It is easiest to get your merchandise initially. Most will not give you terms in the beginning.

Also, there is a several months lead time when you place your order, esp higher end lines. Therefore, when you find a place, you need to factor that in before you sign the lease. You don't want an empty store.

Good luck!

 

[Anjo]

This is a great thread! I'm glad actual boutique owners have joined in, adds some heft to the discussion.. I'd love to start my own store but I'd have to think hard about where to find the financing.

@iamumu: I guess you could buy things and send them to overseas customers, but it would still be quite expensive for them and you would not make much money. I think you'd need to buy at wholesale prices in order to have any kind of profit margin, which means, at the very least, finding wholesalers with merch to unload. But then, if you can't get a retail license it might be illegal for them to sell to you (is this true, or did I just make it up??).

As for the unauthorized boutiques selling "authentic" designer products, well, though I'm no expert I think it's pretty unlikely these products are authentic. That, or they're stolen.. or something nefarious like that.

 

[iamumu]

This is a great thread! I'm glad actual boutique owners have joined in, adds some heft to the discussion.. I'd love to start my own store but I'd have to think hard about where to find the financing.

@iamumu: I guess you could buy things and send them to overseas customers, but it would still be quite expensive for them and you would not make much money. I think you'd need to buy at wholesale prices in order to have any kind of profit margin, which means, at the very least, finding wholesalers with merch to unload. But then, if you can't get a retail license it might be illegal for them to sell to you (is this true, or did I just make it up??).

As for the unauthorized boutiques selling "authentic" designer products, well, though I'm no expert I think it's pretty unlikely these products are authentic. That, or they're stolen.. or something nefarious like that.

Anjo, thank you very much.
i don't know if these online shop are authorized or not, they are proven to be selling authentic designer handbags.
http://www.raffaello-network.com/eng...-Handbags.html
http://www.styledrops.com/interne/ca...All.php?id=211
www.sabinesboutique.com/index.html
to name just a few...

 

[Anjo]

You're right, there *are* back channels to get authentic designer products, but I don't know anything about accessing them. I would imagine that more expensive brands would be very picky about where their merchandise goes.. best of luck!

 

[orang3leaves]

How many of a certain size should you get when buying? I'm thinking larger sizes don't sell as much? What's your experience with which size sells most often? And to what extend can you control how many of a certain size you get from the designer?

 

[gius]

orang3leaves I think it's safer to decide that after experience, after an amount of time you've been selling items. Then you can wager which sizes and also styles are more desirable to your target market

Definitely where I work larger sizes are harder to sell. We get those sizes usually only when we get a customer who wants them. Most common are mid-range (M, L) and then sometimes we have a design that sells more to the S-size customers