Footwear Retailer of the month
Cheryl Taylor talks to Amanda Arkell, of Belle Enfants, Christchurch, Lymington and Ringwood.
How did you get into footwear? Tell us about your background and your current business? I am originally from a banking background, but over the years have been
involved in many different projects from property development, accountancy and boatbuilding to name a few! Belle Enfants was conceived from wanting to give my daughter Hannah,
now aged 18, the opportunity to learn about every aspect of business, albeit in a very different field! In October 2011, we opened our doors to our first store in Christchurch, Dorset, some 10 weeks after first discussing the idea! It was originally a boutique style Children’s emporium – offering great
design led clothing, toys, gifts and accessories sourced from all over the world and brought together in a family friendly environment. At first we provided for children from birth to 7 years, but through popular demand soon extended the upper age to 10 years.
Tell us about your shops, the local area, your customers and their requirements? It wasn’t long after the opening of our Christchurch shop that we launched our lovely website
www.belleenfants.com – we still feel this is our second ‘shop’ and try to ensure that it reflects the friendly face of Belle Enfants in the same way that the High Street shops do – after all, even online we are still essentially a family run independent store!
It was on a rare day off that whilst driving through Lymington a perfectly
placed empty shop front was spotted – we rang the agent there and then and six weeks later Belle Enfants, Lymington opened its doors for the Easter weekend of 2012. Lymington has been a perfect placement for us, having an eclectic High
Street with many other independent boutiques and stores being a great pull as a destination shopping centre for local customers, whilst the pull of the Solent waters and links to the Isle of Wight bring in many tourists too. We hadn’t been open there long before we were regularly hearing the
plea to include Footwear in our repertoire of goods. We soon realised that Lymington was indeed a niche market for Children’s footwear, as there was very little competition locally. Wanting to make sure we got this important development right, plans
were made to move the stock room and convert it to a dedicated shoe shop and fitting area.
How important is shoe fitting to your business? As I have been brought up with properly measured and fitted footwear
myself, and have always ensured my kids had the same, it was obvious to me that formal training in this field would be an essential part of the business. Little did I realise how much of a USP this would become in a day an age where off the shelf, self-serve children’s shoes have become the norm!
40 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
• SEPTEMBER 2013
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