3. Do you have an online shop/website and do you use social networking for business? I am just starting to develop an online shop and build my social marketing. Online shopping is becoming more important and many of my customers, especially the holidaymakers, now ask me if they can buy online. Looking at something like Facebook you can see how good it is for allowing you to talk directly to your customers and let them know about new stock or special offers.
4. How are you finding the footwear market currently? Pretty good so far. I opened in mid-September 2010 and so far things are exceeding my initial forecasts. So much so that I have recently extended into the shop next door after the lease became available. This has allowed me to double my selling area.
5. What’s selling well? Any particular trends? Which are your best selling footwear brands – and why? At this time of years its boots, boots and more boots. There is a clear choice to be made between the lovely casual but quirky boots we stock from Josef Seibel, and the more formal but equally beautiful boots by Cara. We also stock a wider calf-fitting boot from JJ Footwear which is delighting many of my customers,
6. Does your shop sell other items besides footwear , bags, gloves,
tights, socks, below the ankle products? My core range of bags, purses and gloves comes from Pell Mell. Their classic designs are proving very popular with my customers. As a little extra I have also been selling some very funky and flowery tights which have been going down a storm.
7 . Any difficulties/problems?
Trying to find enough hours in the day because there is always so much to do!
8. Any tips on stock offers, novel ideas for clearing lines or advice for independent shoe retailers who might be feeling the pinch? I think you have to stick to your guns as much as possible, particularly on price, and try not to panic when you have a quiet day. I know that’s easily said but I do think independents have a lot to offer, especially on the customer service front. As I mentioned earlier, I do invest a lot of time, energy and money into making my shop look as good as possible. Especially my windows which I change every month and employ a professional window dresser to look after them. I am also keen to try different methods of marketing. Recently I got together with two other ladies running businesses in Wimborne. One owns a restaurant and the other a clothing shop, so we put on a fine dining and fashion show for charity. It was a huge success, raised lots of money for the charity and we even had people saying they were sorry to have missed out on tickets so we will be doing that again.
9. What is your favourite men’s footwear brand/manufacturer – ditto ladies/
children’s brand – and why?
It is very hard to choose one brand above the others but I do like Josef Seibel and I am their biggest stockiest in Dorset. But the reason I stock so many different brands is because I like to offer my customers plenty of choice.
10. How do you select your products – which criteria do you use / what are your customers looking for? My main objective is comfort – but just because a shoe is comfortable does not mean you have to sacrifice style, range of colours and originality. I also listen to what my customers tell me about the brands they like.
11. Which footwear
/fashion shows do you attend,
how do you rate them? I visit Moda and Pure and both have been very good for finding a decent range of different stockists. I must admit that the thought of visiting Germany or Italy is very tempting, but I am very happy with the brands I have now. Although next year I will be adding Caprice, Fly, Riva and Geox.
12. Do you have a favourite footwear agent? Kevin O’Regan of Josef Seibel has been a huge help to me over the past year. In fact the whole team at the Norwich office has been a delight to deal with.
13. Have you always had a passion for footwear? How many pairs of shoes do you own? Do you have a favourite pair? I am too busy hiding them from my husband to count them. And he might be reading this! If I’m honest every new pair of shoes becomes my favourite.
14. Any famous customers? Now that would be telling, but I can say that all my customers are pretty special.
15. And, the next step? Any plans for the future, new lines, retail systems/new technology, etc.? It’s going to be very busy start to 2012. In the past few weeks I have completed a forensic analysis of every aspect of my business to make sure I am completely on top of all the details. This means I can set myself new targets, build on those things that work, and work on those that need tweaking. I am also determined that that my transactional website is fully functioning and offering my full range of shoes. The other big change is that I will be selling a range of men’s shoes from March. At the moment I have no further plans for expansion, but you can never say never - and if the right opportunity presented itself, I would have to consider it.
Maria Leese
JANUARY 2012 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
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