STRAP
Cheryl Taylor, Editor, talks to Footwear Retailer Caroline Charnley, of Kitty Brown Boutique, Carnforth. Carnforth attracts a lot of people on their holidays with its nearby holiday
Q&A:
Name: Caroline Charnley Shop: Kitty Brown Boutique
Brands: Rieker, Ruby Shoo, Fly, Skecher, Crocs, Lunar, XTi, Heavenly Feet, Jo and Joe, Next year, Birkenstock.
Home town: Carnforth Family: Husband and cat
How did you get into footwear? Tell us about your background and your current business? I started Kitty Brown Boutique with my friend Jenny in 2008. We had met in the 1990s while both working for Great Universal Stores in Bolton. Jenny decided to retire from the business in 2014 and so I decided to take the plunge and buy her share of the business. Kitty Brown Boutique was a women’s clothing and accessories shop until
2018. In September of that year the shop next door became unexpectedly vacant and the opportunity was seized and we moved into footwear.
Where are your premises located and how many people do you employ? Do you have a high turnover of staff? Tell us about your shop, the local area, your customers and their requirements? Kitty Brown Boutique is in Carnforth, a small town just north of Lancaster. We have six part-time staff. The longest serving members of staff have worked for the business since it opened in 2008.
34 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019
parks. It is located on Morecambe Bay and is near the attractions of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Park. There are also the seaside delights of Morecambe and historic Lancaster just a few miles away. At Kitty Brown Boutique we try to make an informal shopping experience
with friendly customer service. Our many regular customers feel a sense of Kitty Brown Boutique being their place.
Do you have an online shop/website and do you use social networking for business? Kitty Brown Boutique has a website with an outlet shop. From that we sell stock from previous seasons. We are in the process of enhancing our website and we are anticipating introducing more information about our stock in the new year. We use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Facebook is very popular with our customers and we use it to very effectively keep in contact with people.
How are you finding the footwear market currently? We are in the position with the footwear market that we have no history with which to compare our current experience. Being new to the sector we have had to tell our customers about our new ranges. We have found sales to be higher than we expected, and footfall is definitely rising in the footwear shop.
What’s selling well? Any particular trends? Which are your best selling footwear brands – and why? Because we are new to footwear it is hard for us to spot any definite trends. Our bestselling brand is Rieker. When they are looking for something more ‘dressy’ our range from Ruby Shoo is a definite hit. Fly of London have sold very well for us and we are looking forward to
stocking Heavenly Feet this autumn which we feel will fit in well with our autumn/winter range.
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