Building the Boutique

I know, I know, I’m about two weeks late with this post! I have a good excuse though, and trust me, being sick for the same lenght of time is no fun?

The summer/fall ‘11 market was one of my favorite market week experiences to date, and I wasn’t even the one buying! (heck, maybe that has something to do with it) This time around I was working as a consultant for a new private sale online retailer. I met up with the owner in the lobby of the Cooper Building bright and early on the first day of market week. I arrived prepared with a plan of action in hand — a list of about a dozen labels and showrooms that I felt would be a perfect fit for boutique.

We spent the next five hours working our way through the Cooper Building, the New Mart and the CMC looking at my suggested lines, her favorite lines, and a few surprises along the way. And it’s really funny how many amazing new lines I came across when I wasn’t the one buying — like Lauren Moshi’s insane new jewelry line, Sam Edelman’s new lower priced shoe line, and an amazing range of bags all priced under $130. We got a sneak peek at the new sweet valley high inspired collection from Wildfox — who knew neon cropped tops and graphic body suits could be so much fun! The only thing that didn’t impress me was the new House of Harlow sunglasses — too many retro/novelty shapes, and the plastic looks really cheap and not at all worth the price. Joey Showroom, however, had an amazing new shoe line plus a great handbag line to make up for it though (as snotty as some of their reps may have been to me in the past!)

And I felt like this new boutique owner got a pretty good taste of the good and bad sides of working with sales reps. Most of the reps were great, two in particular were exceptionally professional (they were sales directors and showroom owners, surprise surprise) and one in particular was completely useless. You know, the awkward type who basically forces you to extract information from her instead of volunteering it. That and she just walked away from us in the showroom — how rude!

Buying without spending your own money is actually a ton of fun. And ultimately, seeing how pleased the shop owner was with my services was the best reward. She and I got along great too, and I know she’s going to be wildly successful. I’ll be counting down the days until her store opens because there are number of things I want to snag for myself!

Professional Boutique Consulting Services

Today I’m announcing the official launch of my Boutique Consulting Services as well as my Freelance Buying Service. I’ve had a lot of requests for both of these over the years, and now that I’m happy to finally have time to start offering my professional services. Basically, the boutique consulting services goes beyond this blog; it’s one on one, hands on and personalized. Either by phone, video chat or in person I will walk you through and answer any questions you may have about starting your business, help you identify lines, show you how to contact lines for maximum response rate, and even help you build an SEO marketing strategy. In addition to consulting, I’m also offering a separate service – freelance buying, which is great for those who aren’t located near a major market or just need someone with an eye for style!

For rates and more information, visit the Consulting Services page and/or contact me!