Coming up with a concept for opening a boutique takes more than imagination and money. You need to research your competition and figure out what will also be profitable. Your location, your prices, your design, even your store front could all be dependent on your competitive research findings. Besides all of that, you need to decide what niche of the market you can own. You need to find that little hole in the current style market that gives you room to be unique and creative. Here are some ideas to help you imagine what will fit with your style, budget and give you a competitive edge.
You may need to come up with a word that inspires you to keep in mind. Words for helping define a boutique’s style can be something like simplicity, functionality, crafty, designer, obscure, vintage, maternity, baby, casual, or modern. The possibilities are really endless. Boutiques don’t necessarily have to be about upscale fashions, they can be any type of store that has a unique specialty. You can start a soccer boutique, jewelry boutique or even a pet boutique.
Once you have your concept, you can focus more on products. You can sponsor contests or events for people who make the items that you’re interested in selling. This helps get your name out to the suppliers while you get ideas for your boutique. Many designers are itching to get their items on the market and you could find a few unique vendors to work with.
For name brand vendors, you may need to work with wholesalers. Go to trade shows, conferences or contact the brand’s headquarters directly for their suggestions. Sometimes it is more profitable to go through a wholesaler than a company directly, because they don’t want to be dealing directly with thousands of boutiques. So, they offer their lowest prices to wholesalers and let them do all of the work. Shop wholesalers, online auction sites and competitors before you decide that a product will be profitable for you. If you are constantly finding that the products can be bought online for below the suggested retail price, then you may not be able to cover your operation costs.
You can learn a lot by talking to other retailers like yourself. This is especially true if you are not in direct competition with someone. Find other boutique owners in different towns and ask them about their suppliers, where they buy their clothing racks or garment racks, and what paths they have taken in getting their business going.
If you can develop good working relationships with other store owners, then you can both be an asset to each other. If you feel that you may not be a valuable resource to them, entice them to help you by promoting their store on your site or plugging their boutique in your blog. With the right concepts, support structure and products, your boutique can be a smashing success.
About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.