Canada’s Pot of Gold
INSIDER TIPS: From the Yellow Brick Road
1. Find something truly unique as the focus of your store; for Over the Rainbow it’s all about the fit.
2. Cherry pick lines to make sure you have all style and fit bases covered.
3. Keep your relations with your vendors positive so that when an item gets hot and you need more goods they can be there to help you.
4. And when an item is stone cold, get out of it as fast as you possibly can. Good vendor relations can help on the downside too.
“We can pour it on when we’ve got something hot,” says Over the Rainbow owner Joel Carmen.
vital when independent stores are competing with an onslaught of vertical retailers, like Abercrombie & Fitch or H&M, which operate with practically unbeatable margins.
Building strategic alliances with vendors is critical as well. Strong relationships with brands enable Over the Rainbow to adjust its buying constantly, rather than depend on line sheets during semi-annual markets.
“We can pour it on when we’ve got something hot,” he says, or get out of an item quickly when a trend isn’t resonating. (He points to the unsuccessful dropped-crotch phenomenon of last spring as one such “miss.”).
In recent seasons, though, there’s been little to pour on. “We’ve been in the doldrums. People are playing it safe because of the economy, and it has stunted creativity,” Carmen says.
Still, the retailer has managed to uncover “a little spice” here and there, such as compelling outerwear for last season, and a ’70’s look – think high-waisted trousers, faded jeans and lighter weights and washes – for spring.
But don’t look for Carmen to go overboard reimagining Farrah Fawcett’s closet. “We don’t have to reinvent ourselves every season,” he says. “We just keep adding on bits and pieces. It’s like a conveyer belt — things come on one side and off the other.”
Contented with his single-store location, Carmen is looking at other opportunities for growth in coming years. He’s brought both of his 20-something kids into the fold, and looks to their expertise for the pathway into the future. Men’s wear, which currently comprises around 25 percent of Over the Rainbow’s business, is one such venture, while e-commerce, probably around a year away, is another. “I’d like to make this a bigger business,” says Carmen. “The store is always in development.”
In the meantime, the former cabbie is happy to serve three genera- tions of shoppers with the same smile he’s worn for 36 years. “I have a blast everyday, and I’m always learning something new,” he insists. “I love what I do.”
As they say in the movies, somewhere over the rainbow, dreams really do come true.
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