We recently connected with Shole Strand and have shared our conversation below.
Shole, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
Starting my own business was likely the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. After college, I got a job in marketing/graphic design. I worked 14 years in a corporate office environment with a steady paycheck and benefits. Hell, I even had my parking paid for in a Washington, D.C. garage. When we moved from the DC area to upstate NY, I started another marketing job at a big company. I became the Marketing Director for Marvin Windows and Doors of NY. It was a new industry, but nothing I was passionate about. When I heard a family friend was retiring from running a women’s clothing boutique in Hamilton, NY I was intrigued. What if I did that instead? I’ve always been interested in fashion and obsessed with my wardrobe. My mom used to tell stories that I would change my clothes 5 times a day and cause too much laundry starting at age 3.
I knew it was something I would love, but would it pay the bills? I hadn’t run a store before. Sure, I’d worked at Lord & Taylor through college but I wasn’t running the place, I was a cashier. I didn’t really know much of anything about running a retail store. Fortunately, I could ask as many questions as I could think of to our family friend before she retired. I’d also been helping dozens of accounts through my former position with the advertising and marketing initiatives, so I had that portion down. To me, the rest seemed logistics I could learn along the way.
Another obstacle in opening up my boutique was the location. We lived 56 miles from the space the former boutique was running in. It would be a long commute. She wasn’t willing to talk numbers so I had to do as much research on the area, it’s demographics, it’s income levels, taxes etc. to see what kind of sales it might generate. I had to write a business plan – something I’d never done – and present this to banks to secure a loan to buy inventory. The first 2 did not say yes. Without any prior sales numbers to base anything on, this was a risk for the bank as well.
Fortunately, the 3rd bank said yes. I secured an SBA loan and applied for a program that would pay me while I got the business up and running. I had a list of vendors and made appointments at showrooms. I had no idea what I was doing, but I managed to fill the store and open March 1, 2019. We turned a profit in our first 9 months.
Aside from the covid shut-down, we’ve increased sales every year and I actually do make a living off something I still love 4 years in.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
At Shol’s boutique, we sell women’s clothing, footwear and accessories. Shol’s is located in Hamilton, NY down the street from Colgate University. I’m lucky enough to have a rotating pool of customers, but the demographic overall is quite varied. Yes, I do have college-age customers. These girls are trendy, and recognize, as well as demand higher-end brands. Often, they shop with their mothers. When mom is paying they have to find things she likes too. Mom also wants to buys things she can wear to work that are of good quality. I also have many 65+ customers. Local, fashion-forward ladies who are more price-conscious but demand quality.
Essentially I have to squeeze 3 generational demographic customers into 900 SF of show floor space. I’ve edited my vendors to include Free People, BB Dakota by Steve Madden, Bella Dahl, Pistola denim and Wooden Ships, to name a few. These brands have universal appeal, good quality and help keep my price points below $200. I feel like I’ve really created a space where girls, the moms, and the grandma’s can all find something they love at a price they can afford.
I think it’s interesting when asked about “our brand” seeing as we carry other tagged brands. I’d like to think our brand reflects our customers. They are classy, educated, sophisticated women with good taste. You will see certain trends, but I would not call Shol’s boutique ‘trendy’ persae. The store is there to provide our local customers with dresses and all the accessories for weddings and formals, including essential undergarments. We’re there to help when you have an interview the next day and no dress shirt or blazer to wear.
I’m very proud of Shol’s boutique. I love to hear customers making it a priority to come shop with me when they’re in town. I love to hear about the pieces they’ve added to their wardrobe and how they’re getting great use out of them. I will never tire of the compliments on it’s appearance or the selection.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Hamilton, NY is a small town with a small downtown shopping area. When I was first opening Shol’s boutique I wanted to make it clear with my aesthetic what kind of boutique experience you were going to get. I sent out mailers inviting everyone to the grand opening on nice cardstock with great photos and typography. Since I had spent 7 years as a graphic designer, I’d become pretty well-versed at making nice mailers and invitations and I knew where to find mailing lists. I started our social media platforms well before our first opening day to create anticipation and give everyone a sense of what products they could expect. Signage was also important. I went with a classic black and white color scheme that would stand the test of time.
It was also important to become involved in the town. Unfortunately, I did not live in the town I opened my store in. Fortunately, they did have a Business Alliance I could join and start attending meetings to become involved. I became a board member and helped volunteer at town events. Building the boutique’s reputation in the market was intertwined in building my relationships with the other business owners as much as it was with the customers.
Choosing the right inventory for the store was also key in building a good reputation in the market. Research, personal experience, market exposure and just plain asking customers about their favorite brands helped me choose what to put in the store. Shol’s boutique also has a great front window which we take full advantage of. I have a Studio Art degree which I’ve unleashed many times to create gingerbread villages out of cardboard, rainbows out of yarn, skirts out of pine tree branches for the holidays, and themes for every season. Keeping the front window refreshed with new outfits at minimum once a week, if not twice a week, is an easy way for us to display our favorite new pieces to the public. Keeping the front windows new and refreshed lets everyone know our inventory is new and fresh as well.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
When I was opening Shol’s boutique I knew with the college there would be customers that would only be around in person a few times a year, and then after 4 years not at all! I knew we needed an online presence to help not only parents shop for their college kids at a local store, but for themselves when they weren’t in town. I also knew it had to look good, be mobile friendly, and function well. I also knew I did not know anything about building a website. Fortunately, the internet exists. I was able to do a lot of research and eventually build a great functioning site from online templates. I chose Shopify because it would automatically link my in-store inventory with my online sales. There were lots of great templates to choose from and it was very user-friendly. I could edit it as much or as little as I wanted.
Unfortunately, the internet is a fickle and vast world where a small business is unlikely to just be stumbled upon – and very unlikely to show up on the first page of Google without some serious paid ads or direct search. My online sales were only accounting for 1-3% of my total sales. When covid came around, it was clear we needed to pivot and concentrate more heavily on our online sales. We doubled our social media ads and email marketing, but it wasn’t making the numbers we needed with the brick-and-mortar store closed. We also had older inventory we needed to unload before the seasons changed again.
I had heard of Poshmark through my teenager and her girlfriends. They were using it to earn money selling used clothing in their closets. It was very clothing/fashion specific and quickly becoming a strong online clothing retail market. I decided to give it a try. I posted our “NWT” sale items and started seeing sales right away. Poshmark does take 20% of the sale price, but I figured it was worth the online exposure. Sometimes customers would even go direclty to my website to purchase the item(s) they wanted there because I was offering free shipping on my site, but not on Poshmark. I was finding new online customers.
It was easy for me to copy/paste my descriptions right off my Shopify back-end onto the Poshmark site and upload my existing photography. I also discovered they were showing buyers based on recently listed or updated listings, so even if I didn’t have something new to list, if I edited the post or reshared to followers, it would go to the top of the queue again.
Poshmark became a better income provider than my own website. The best part was, all items are final sale. No returns with Poshmark. If the buyer isn’t completely in love or it doesn’t fit, they can just “reposh” it and you don’t lose your sale. As I have a pretty generous return policy at my store, this was very appealing to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sholsboutique.com/
- Instagram: @sholsboutique
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sholsboutique
- Twitter: @sholsboutique
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sholsboutique/
Image Credits
Carly Stone Caity Pfohl Aurora Roe Lisette Shiffer Chloe Strand