NEW YORK — As fashion continues to gain more of a worldwide scope, specialty store owners are on the march to improve service to hold onto customers in an increasingly competitive business.
That was the word from retailers attending the Atelier Designers and Pacific Designers trade shows Monday at the Doubletree Guest Suites here. Jayne Siever, a co-owner of Pilgrims’ Progress in Plymouth Mass., summed up the retail scene, “We’re competing with the world. Our customer travels. Everybody is exposed to everything now. The customer is very savvy.
“In its 29th year, her family-owned business recently doubled the size of its store to 1,800 square feet. “We are always on the floor selling and we carry everything — women’s, men’s, shoes and accessories. Our customers have become extraordinarily loyal given the competition,” Siever said.
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Developing a friendly rapport with customers is a priority, as is knowing what type of clothing will work for each customer’s lifestyle. Siever’s family members make up five of the store’s six employees, and the one nonrelative has worked there for 29 years. At Pacific Designer Collection, Siever was looking for great better sportswear items like jackets, skirts and T-shirts, she said. “From a buying perspective, you have to know what you’re looking for based on your customer. This is a very intuitive business. My intuition helps with my buy. It’s hard to articulate, but I know what she needs when I see it.”
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Having canvassed six trade shows, Siever said, “I’m amazed by the number of companies showing in New York that they can all survive.”
Pina Ackerman, owner of Pina Boutique in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was also making the rounds at several shows. “I always check out everything. There could be one line that makes it worth the trip. I also go to a lot of European markets. You have to always be looking. Otherwise, you stay behind and you lose.”
She said she was visiting Pacific Designers for the first time, but at Atelier she planned to check out Amy Leiner, Beppa and Vitamin Inc. A 33-year retail veteran, Ackerman didn’t let last year’s massive hurricane damage to her store deter her from reopening four months ago. She expanded the space, but insisted customer service is the key to success.
“If you have good customer service and you really care for your customers, you will succeed,” said Ackerman. “People are looking for something that works for them, but it’s all about service, service, service. People love to be catered to.”
Nadine Buch, owner of The Tiger’s Eye in Lititz, Pa., said for the first time in her store’s 10-year history, business is slightly off compared with the previous year. “It’s been a tad off — not bad, not scary. I’m still hoping that the last quarter sales will pull us out,” she said. “There is a little less traffic in the store. It could be that people aren’t traveling so much due to gas prices.”
To try to get shoppers revved up about fall, Buch plans to host a few in-store fashion shows and mail select customers coupons for $25 discounts on $100 purchases. She was also on the lookout for immediate orders at the shows, with jackets, scarves and wearable art sportswear topping her list. She also planned to check out Treadle, Frittelli & Lockwood, Nooshin and Beppa.
Alice Materasso, owner of Alice, Alice, Alice in Ridgewood, N.J., was also looking for immediate merchandise, especially capes and sweaters, as well as new lines for spring. “Finding two new lines will make the store more exciting,” she said. “People are definitely more cautious [about spending] in the suburbs. People who would normally spend a lot of money are spending less. They seem to be bargaining more with prices and even with alterations. Department stores mark down so early in the season. They’re not saying it, but I’m sure it has an effect.”
Running some early fall advertising has helped to get shoppers in her store, and Materasso has a few trunk shows planned for fall.
A few exhibitors were also trying new tactics. Sally Bridge, a Providence, R.I.-based label, was showing its ready-to-wear at Atelier for the first time and its special occasion dresses at Moda. Another newcomer, Karen Allen, was offering her cashmere knitwear to retailers for the first time. Until now, she has sold her collection from her store by the same name in Great Barrington, Mass. Allen attended FIT as a young woman and then went on to have a 25-year acting career, with her most recognizable role being as the woman who would drink people under the table and punched Harrison Ford in the chin in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” As for her new role, she said, “I’ve been waiting all my life to do this.”
At Pacific Designers, Seattle-based Betty David was selling her signature hand-painted shearling jackets and coats wholesale for the first time. For 15 years, David, a Spokane Indian, has been selling them through the Santa Fe Indian Market and craft shows.