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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Nicky Ragtales

It’s Monday morning and raining hard in Dublin. I completely missed last weeks post and that was simply due to too much to do and too little time to do it in!! Ideally I would love a bigger showroom and more staff but it doesn’t make a great deal of sense. My blogging and charity work is very important to me but is something that I really have to be careful in terms of time allocation. I could spend all day doing both and that would be great but unfortunately it simply wouldn’t pay and that, as anyone who is in business will tell you is the bottom line.
Lots of boutiques are planning style events, fashion shows and all sorts of customer evenings at the moment. You could if you were clever (and had a driver) go out to a free evenings entertainment every night of the week drinking copious glasses of champagne on the way! Engaging with customers on a personal level is the key to maximising trade and I spent all last week hosting style events in all the Brown Thomas stores (except Cork which is on 25th September) for Europe’s largest German Hosiery brand Falke. Falke is one of my very favourite companies to work with. Hosiery is the ultimate accessory, as every sassy shopper knows. The addition of great leg wear can change a simple dress from day to evening. Last year Falke sales increased by 20% and this was also true of Yummie Tummie which continues the trend towards sales of accessories on the rise. The season’s colours can inject that ‘In Fashion’ statement that every woman wants to display for a very small investment. It is always the finishing touches that perfect a whole look.
This winter for example demure and simple clothing was shown on the catwalks with the fantastic opaques. Sheer tights were worn for evening and socks were simply everywhere worn with evening shoes, over boots in short or knee high versions. No need this winter for cold feet then! . I have noticed that all the main ranges are much more price conscious and the collections are tighter and leaner and much more realistic. There has never been better quality, better styled clothing that offers real value than this Autumn Winter and I am saying this as one who is constantly re evaluating what is on offer in both the stores and the Boutiques.
Have a fashionable week ahead…..

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