Are you thinking of adding jewelry, accessories or clothing to your merchandise mix?  As Gifts and Decorative Accessories editor Caroline Kennedy said in a recent seminar, giftable apparel and accessories are a major trend in our industry.  Women enjoy buying non-size specific clothing and accessories for each other as well as to spruce up their own wardrobe.

Good news for bricks and mortar stores considering expanding in this area comes from Nadia Shouraboura at the National Retail Federation. convention.  She said “While many categories thrived online, apparel was not one of them.”

In order to bring clothing into your merchandise mix, you need to determine who is your target market and what “story” you will be telling. Are you going to sell casual clothing for women over 40? Beachwear?  Regional t-shirts representing your area? Pajamas to go with your bath and body products? Hip, one-of-a-kind clothes aimed at a younger market?  Vintage jewelry and accessories that blend well with antiques? The range of product available in this category is endless.

There are of course special considerations when ordering clothing:

1)Plan for markdowns when styles and seasons change

2)Bring in a good mix of sizes for your target market

3)Set up a full-length mirror, and if possible a dressing room

Promoting clothing and accessories can be done using Facebook, Pinterest and (especially for a younger crowd) Instagram.  But it’s also fun to do a fashion show to show how your offerings look when worn.  This can be a full-blown runway event, possibly tying in with a local charity and using your employees and customers as models. Ask your vendors to support your effort with samples, door prizes and giveaways.

But if you don’t want to do a formal runway show, you could recreate the flash mob fashion show that was part of my presentation yesterday at the Minneapolis Mart about selling fashion. I asked sales reps from all the showrooms to come in as a surprise (to the tune of Take a Chance on Me by ABBA)  in the middle of my talk.  They wore as much of the product they rep as possible, and after coming to the front of the room they simply walked among the tables and handed out cards describing what they were wearing and listing the showroom where it could be found. 

Perhaps there is a community event where you could use this idea to show off the range of fashion items that you carry.  People love to see someone they know modeling apparel and accessories. If a flash mob isn’t feasible, ask customers’ permission to snap a photo and use it in your social media to create a lookbook showing your store’s unique style.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder