When David Harris first opened his women’s clothing boutique at the Harbor Shops in Fort Lauderdale, he didn’t realize that having two similar apparel stores in the same shopping plaza would only help his business grow.
Harris in October opened Etiquette Boutique, a 1,100-square-foot women’s clothing store that offers a limited supply of exclusive designer dresses, tops, shoes and more.
His apparel boutique friends two others in the similar shopping plaza: hello gorgeous, every other women’s designer store, and the Prissy chicken, an upscale consignment retailer for evenly used women’s apparel. Independently owned boutiques still compete with each other for trade, however some South Florida store owners are coming together to enhance the couture community.
When a customer of mine buys an outfit and is looking for that last piece to complete it, if I don’t have it, I’m calling around to other stores to see if they do, Harris said. Not only does that make a lasting impression with the customer, but it’s just beneficial for all of us store owners in the area.
On a monthly basis, Harris brings make a choice designs to girls evening at O lounge on Las Olas street, where he sells apparel to the lounge’s patrons. women get to browse the racks and check out on garments in the lounge. Harris was once invited to participate through another boutique owner, Stacy Goren.
The point isn’t really about sharing business, but giving a different experience to the same kind of customers, said Goren, who works as a VIP host at YOLO and Vibe nightclub but also opened Elektrik Boutique on Las Olas Boulevard earlier this month. Elektrik Boutique also sells women’s fashions, from casual designs to cocktail dresses.
We be offering an experience you’re no longer going to get within the big-field shops, Goren defined. You’re now not going to run into people with the similar get dressed or best if you purchase from a boutique.
Boutique clothing stores usually cater to a more high-end customer because of the higher price tags associated with limited-edition designer lines. But some stores, like Etiquette Boutique, still offer prices comparable to those of department stores.
If you could have the cash, you’re passing to shop for an $800 get dressed, however for the 95 percent of customers, that’s no longer an option, Harris said. So, folks cross to big-field shops like Macy’s, the place they suspect it’s a little more affordable. That isn’t totally actual anyextra.
Molly Carey, owner of Lala Couture in the Gateway Plaza on Sunrise Boulevard, showcases local designers in her store. Carey currently sells a line of swimwear by Ravish Sands, a line created by Jessie Becker in Fort Lauderdale, even though Becker sells her bathing suit designs from a storefront just around the corner on Fort Lauderdale beach.
If I know the brand and the designer, I have no problem selling something locally in my store, said Carey, who opened her boutique in Fort Lauderdale in October 2011. But boutiques are very protective of their customers. I don’t want to send mine to another store if I don’t know for sure what it’s all about.