Okay, I'm opening a clothes shop, I'm V excited, any tips???

[bubblerock]

Hi all, well here's a bit of background and an update -
We have run a Hotel in Blackpool with my Mum for the past 2.5 years (and met lots of lovely Mumsnetters ). We decided at the end of last season that we didn't want to be Hoteliers anymore so we sold the Hotel.
Unfortunately the sale fell through so we decided to live in the Hotel and once we have sold all of the extra beds etc.. we will apply for change of use and it will just be a huge house. It works well, there is more than enough room for all of us and we don't have a mortgage.
DH and I still wanted to be self employed (Mum has a decent job now) so we decided we wanted to open a shop....
This is where we are at the moment -
We have found an empty shop in an out of town location, still busy and close to a bank and Tesco express. We've managed to negotiate a new 5 year lease (with break clause just in case) it is all with the solicitors at the moment. I have been buying stock - we will be selling ex highstreet/chainstore womens and girlswear, there is a shop similar the other side of town that is always busy but is poorly laid out and a bit of a jumble sale so I know that the concept is viable and the markup on the items is good.
Hopefully we will have the keys to the shop soon and will be able to start the refit etc... It's going to be a steep learning curve I need an overall colour scheme, dummies, learn how to dress the windows, get a sign, a till, buy the right stock.... the list is endless
Anyone else started from scratch or have knowledge of this type of retail? - Any advice or good ideas appreciated!! I am excited about the project but it's also pretty scary!!

No ideas but would love to know where it is when you are up and running.
Will pop over and have a rummage.
Good luck

Cheers Kate - I could do a MN discount card, I don't think there's too many of us on the Fylde coast, lol

Congrats on your new venture Bubblerock!

I have a 16yo sister who is obssessed with the latest teen trends so I can ask her anytime for stock advice!

Keep the aisles wide enough for prams

Yep - any style advice would be great - I live in jeans and jumpers!! I seem to have bought all of the nice things on the wholesale sites and I'm hoping they will get new things in regularly or I can find new sites to buy from. Will definately leave space for buggies, there's nothing worse is there?

It's a nightmare isn't it?! To the point where you could probably use a 'buggy friendly' gimmick lol

You should be able to get to a point where you end up with specific and reliable wholesalers although I guess some of that will come from trial and error.

Bet it will be fab though!!

I have a big anti-thing about dummies. I think they are really, really old-fashioned looking, quite ugly and scary. A friend of a friend has opened a really up-scale shop - it's great and is doing OK, but I think the window display with dummies is the worst thing about it and does not reflect the quality of her operation.

Have a look at clothes shops you enjoy shopping in. Most now seem to use large pictures (e.g. Bravissimo), or 'faceless' dummies or even just kind of wire people-shapes (e.g. Gap, I think). If no money for photos etc, I would pin items to a backing, e.g. perhaps long line of overlapping tshirts; children's clothes with backing decorated like birthday party - you know the sort of thing.

wot type of clothes shop and where? I just opened up a babywear shop a couple of months ago, very exciting but must advertise and advertise and advertise some more x good luck

Could you do a course in (for example) window dressing? Or perhaps hire someone to do a few really good displays for you to see how to put it together?

Spend some time going round the local shops and looking at their window displays - make notes on what works and what doesn't. Don't forget about accessories - eg (fabric) autumn leaves along the base of an autumn clothes range, etc. Have a strong theme rather than a mixture of stuff. I did some window dressing (years ago in USA, and I was self-taught so no expert!) and it can be quite tricky to pull it off - loved doing it though!

Good luck with it all - sounds very exciting!

And agree with choosy - go with headless dummies or wire ones (though you have to be quite artful with the pins on those!)

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I love window dresing - used to be the best bit of my vacation jobs!

Headless dummies all the way - even if they're just torsos. Cheap second hand ones can have the neck bit covered with fabric or tissue. (and torsos are much the easiest to dress). Make sure the clothes fit them perfectly (pins v helpful here) and either weight or tie trousers at the ankle.

Big photos like they use in Bravissimo etc are v expensive so not ideal for you.

Don't forget the window display (and the shop) needs to be well lit, and have a screen or something behind it to stop the actual racks of clothes distracting too much attention from the display.

Look in shop windows to see what works and what doesn't - charity shops are great for this as they (like you) have a limited range of not-always-matching clothes to choose from, and some get it right and some really don't!

Don't forget the fishing-line trick if you wank skirts or scarves to look like they're blowing in the wind (v good for autumn or winter)

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This is fab advice!!! I think I should get you lot to come up and do the whole design aspect! I think the torso idea is good as the two windows each side of the door aren't full length, they are brick so far up. Keep the ideas and also what you hate about clothes shops coming! It's really useful.

I'm sure she doesn't really wank skirts.

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Perhaps try things like Crocs.

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This place is local to me. They sell ex catalogue stuff albeit childrenswear and have recently set up this website. I don't know if it will give you any tips etc. They usually come and do a fashion show at my dd's school twice a year and the school gets 10% of the sales.

Love the idea of selling some locally made jewellery - if you find someone who is starting out/doesn't have another outlet, I bet you could do a deal re paying her for what sells. A glass topped counter with a display shelf inside would probably fit the bill without encroaching on clothes selling space. You could dress the "dummies" with necklaces etc. too.

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Keep details of alteration service locally. May seem over the top as you are going for inexpensive clothes, but us broke people have a right to clothes that fit too!

Also keep packet of pins in drawer (and tape measure) so that you can help someone if needed. that kind of service wd keep people coming back, tho may not be economic dependig on scale of operation.