We Ask, You Answered
GDA Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 1/1/2012 2:00:00 AM
Ted Kennedy Watson
WATSON KENNEDY
Seattle, WA
I do carry pajamas and robes at one of my locations, because the shop is located in the courtyard of the Inn at the Market, which is one of the finer hotels in Seattle. We don't have a dressing room in the shop, but that really has never hindered our sleepware sales, perhaps because we have good signage with size equivalents next to the rack displaying the pajamas.
I would say we sell them about 50/50 for personal wearing and gifts. We get very few returns on those that are given as gifts.
Apparel does not really work in my other location, as that shop is more home furnishings driven.
Jennifer Hill
BLACKSTONE'S OF BEACON HILL
Boston, MA
We have carried apparel for both men and women (i.e., Island Issue and Vineyard Vines). We found carrying women's clothing to be the most challenging as we are a very small shop. We are not able to have a changing room in such a small space so it has limited the appeal. Our clothing sales were mostly bought as gifts. Carrying apparel for men has not been such an issue. We have stocked sized merchandise such as dress shirts, sweaters and swim trunks. We brought in women's tunics, dresses and skirts and attempted to create a changing room, but it was cumbersome for women to try clothing on inside. We have also carried Boston-themed and sportsthemed t-shirts that have done quite well as they do not require a changing room. We plan to bring women's apparel back in 2012 in the form of outerwear that can easily be tried on over a shirt or sweater. The line we are adding is Winding River from Trimdin. They are reversible jackets sized XS to XL. We anticipate that most sales will be for the purchaser, but we will wait to see.
Mandy Becker
SWAGGER GIFTS
Cary, NC
This past August we doubled the size of our store and added clothes. We have found that the addition has been a very rewarding risk! We mostly carry items that are sized small to extra large, but we do have a few lines, such as jeans, that are sized as numbers (i.e. 25 - 31). We have found that in our store, small is the most popular size. We have two rather large dressing rooms so our customers don't feel cramped while trying on clothes and can push a baby stroller in with them if they need to.
A large percentage of our customers say they "may as well look" at the clothes while we are wrapping their gifts. I would say over 50 percent of them end up purchasing an item for themselves, whether it be jewelry, a scarf or clothes from the new addition. The majority of the clothes we have sold are people purchasing for themselves. This past Christmas season we did sell clothes as gifts, but most of the time the person receiving the gift was there to try it on (like a mom was buying for her daughter)!
We would love your feedback!
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