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!!

Hi Cheesy, It will be on Central Drive - I'll keep this thread updated as I go along and when we're up and running you'll have to come in when you're next up this way - 'hi I'm cheesyfeet' - I can just imagine DH's face now LOL

on opening day have real people model in windows for couple of hours!
and lots of given away flyers w/ discount to get them in
create big hooha on day for local press and fashionistas

enough room to see the clothes, mirrors

friendly helpful honest advisors

good luck

i would love to have done window dressing...

I want tht long black top!

How very exciting for you - I'm a tad too far to come shopping but best of luck

i used to do merchandising have had traiing from ralph lauren dontcha know (not actually him, the company) basically,just put outfits togther, ie jeans near jumper and t and maybe shoes. If you are colour blocking never ever put a wall of one colour always mix it withanother colour. ie in a wall of all brown, items won't be seen as well as they would in a wall of brown and white.
(unless of course its dark brown and light brown )

theres a health ans safety thing about the distance between fixtures, i forget what it is but if you can fit a buggy comfortably round it then you are fine.

So exciting Bubblerock! I don't know if you have ever been in Steals in town but that is not how to do it! You can't get round easily with a pushchair and you can never find what you are looking for.

Will your shop be in central Blackpool?

Good luck!

Hi Fairy! Yep Steals is how I'm not going to do it, but It's the same sort of concept. It is always busy in there isn't it? So I'm hoping to capture the other side of town (Central Drive - near Tesco) keep to just ladies and teens and keep it spacious. It's not a large shop but there is plenty of passing trade and a huge amount of families living in the terrace houses behind and also the Hotels. Plus no competition!
Today I ordered a size 12 ladies dummy and an age 12 child dummy - headless and legless of course Here for inside the shop to display a whole outfit and some torso's for the windows. Loads of coathangers (not wooden) for the items that don't come already hung. I got lots of other bits and bobs including the price labels so that will keep me busy this week!
Keep the advice coming girls - I am taking it all in, thank you for helping

i sell clothes via t'internet and this supplier is fab here

Mirrors ONLY in places where there is WARM, FLATTERING light

I have run out of M&S virtually in tears due to their overhead lighting the changing rooms

Don't use those fecking thinning mirrors. WE REALISE.

and wed prefer 2 or 3 changing rooms that will fit a buggy NOT 17 that you can barely move in

LOL MP - where can I find one of these magic mirrors??? Maybe I could change all of the sizes to US sizes and people will be so chuffed that they can wear a size 10 or 12 that they'll buy!

Lissielou - that's a really cheap site, do you find that people buy it even though it's not a named product? I don't know if it's just me, but when I used to search on Ebay I would type in (Next, River Island, Wallis, Kookai, Warehouse) etc...

Wow bubblerock Good girl!

Racking my brain for helpful tips..
When I worked in fashion/pr in London in life before kids, THE place everyone went for window dressing inspiration was Harvey Nicks.
They are the top of the food chain!
You have one in Leeds of course.Just for ideas.

But lots of retailers hire someone freelance to come and dress them professionally once/month etc.

Could you suspend dressed headless dummies for rather 'Different' approach?

You can buy second hand tills from liquidation sales etc, you dont need anything flash at first til you start raking in the millions

Shortly after you have opened you could arrange an evening Spring fashion show where your pals model the clothes, with wine and a free prize draw,invite everyone you know and their friends too.
I know lots of small shops that do that here.
Its great fun for the Mums to get out and dressed up.

Good luck.

Good luck... the clothes look fab. I wish we had a shop that sold that type of stuff around here (North Lincolnshire).

If it's any help, my DD is a second year fashion student. She works Sundays and Thursday evenings in Kalico concession in Debehhams. She sells more than the full time staff and has been employee of the year. The trick, she reckons, is to leave people to browse, until they pick up something to try on, then she casually mentions things she has that would go with what they've already got... 'oh, that skirt is lovely isn't it? Try teaming it with this jacket to dress it up a bit' - type of thing.

And she reckons stripes are gonna be big in the summer by the way.

OK, here are my suggestions based on many years' experience of clothes shopping (!): Have rear-view mirrors - you need to see what you are trying on through 360 degrees. It's surprising how many shops don't have them. Fitting rooms should have lockable doors, not curtains as the curtains never close properly. Also, group everything by size, then customers don't have to search the whole shop. TKMaxx does this and it makes shopping so much quicker. Offer to help fetch and carry clothes for customers so they don't have to get dressed again if they want something in a different colour or size. And have a no-quibble returns policy, none of those annoying credit notes! People will be more encouraged to buy if they know they can return it (providing it's not worn or damaged, of course). And try and offer some unique selling point that the high street stores don't, such as really good style advice, free alterations, coffee, toys for children to play with (and keep them away from the clothes with their sticky fingers!). Good luck!

i hate tk maxx...always think it looks like some kind of shabby market and can never be bothered to try and hunt through for things! Much prefer it to look neat and tidy a la french connection, oasis, gap etc

nooo tkmaxx not the way to go! no one wants to rummage thru 900 pairs of jeans to find that the size u wanted isn't even there!

All the TKMaxx's near me do not group by size they grup by STYLE ie all jeans all long dresses all t shirts, its HORRID

I hate TK Maxx too, I'm trying to steer away from 'jumble sale' - to be honest I think it's going to be okay in the beginning but when stock starts changing that's when it might be tricky so I think I'll just have to have a tidy sale rack and get rid of odds and ends as soon as I can to keep it looking neat. (that's the plan anyway )

The dummies arrived today so I had great fun dressing them - it took me back to playing with my barbies (although they all had legs and most had heads ). DS2 (3) spent an hour playing with all of the size squares to go on the hangers. The price labels are here too but I couldn't face doing that today.

Size cubes make it a lot easier find what you want.

Keeping behind the till area clear is good too, see a lot of messy areas and it doesn't look very professional.

Remember all the add on sale you can get at the till, like jewelery, belts, scarves.

I think the alterations service is a good idea, find a good local service and offer to get it done for them.

I used to be a store detective for a high st clothing shop and a posh department store. Don't overlook security not only against theft but personal security too.

A good way of putting off shoplifters is to give good customer service. Acknowlege everyone and offer assistance but don't hassle them. Be friendly and helpful, shoplifters do not want to be noticed, they will be the person looking at you to see what you are doing.

Have a system where you know roughly how many items of stock are out ie. one of each size xs, s, m, l, xl so if something is missing you can be onto it quick.

If you do catch someone stealing whether it be staff or customer be very careful of your personal safety. It is not worth getting injured or worse over a pair of jeans.

In the places I worked over 70% of theft was by staff. Make sure you check staff first, get police checks done and follow up their references.

Speak to your bank about credit card and cheque fraud and ways to avoid this happening to you. Though since chip and pin has come in it is greatly reduced.

Good luck with your new venture it sounds like loads of fun too!!