It doesn’t carry up-to-the-minute trends, unless they didn’t sell well at
full price elsewhere.
When it is crowded, sheets hung from the ceiling are pulled across the back
of the store, creating an impromptu group fitting room.
And its location, tucked down a narrow cobblestone side street in Bucktown,
is easy to pass right by.
But it is just those factors — which add up to the thrill of the hunt for
label-conscious, savings-savvy shoppers — that have this new business on
target to ring up sales of $400,000 to $600,000 this year.
Owner Janice Moskoff didn’t originally plan to open a retail store. After
the former business strategist for Ann Taylor Stores Corp. and her husband,
Jordan, moved from New York to Chicago, Moskoff decided to try her hand at
roving sample sales.
Sample sales, a fixture for New York fashionistas, offer for a fraction of
full price the pre-production samples that buyers take to retailers as they
try to sell a designer’s line. Among the better-known sales is Billion Dollar
Babes, an invitation-only, two-day sale that began in New York and has grown
to seven cities worldwide, including Chicago.
Seeing the growing ranks of boutiques in Chicago and interest in their
wares, Moskoff found places she could rent cheaply on weekends and would bring
in racks of overstock or sample clothes to sell. Her first event, in February
2005, produced sales of $4,000. When she got to $10,000 in sales, she started
conducting them monthly.
Then for a sale last May, she rented the empty 1,700-square-foot space on
West Concord Place, near Bucktown’s red-hot ground-zero intersection of North,
Damen and Milwaukee Avenues. When she did her final tally of sales that
weekend, the sum hit $24,000 and Moskoff decided to put down roots.
“It really just fits this neighborhood,” she said. “We found our niche. I
don’t think any other retailer in their right mind should locate here. But
we’re a little bit different. We’re a ‘you have to know us’ place. I think
that appeals to people in some way.”
She invested $5,000 to open the business, most of it for the inventory. She
still hasn’t sat down and written a real business plan, but she did develop a
20-page guide for two buyers that spells out what to look for — and what not
to bring back. In: sweaters and shirts that don’t have to be tried on. Out:
anything lime green or sheer.
“I’m risk-averse, but I take calculated risks,” said Moskoff, 33. “It’s
learning from your mistakes and making sure those mistakes are as inexpensive
as possible.”
Another $3,000 was spent on developing the first incarnation of the store’s
Web site, but she has since invested another $5,000 to retool it, figuring
that she has to have a credible online presence to sway designers into letting
a one-location venture like Beta Boutique carry even their past-season goods.
“The hard part is getting the inventory,” Moskoff said. “We have to prove to
designers that we’re not going to denigrate their inventory.”
Today, the ever-changing inventory is about 40 percent samples and 60
percent overstock from other boutiques. On average, prices are discounted 50
to 60 percent off the original retail price. The labels she carries are
boutique brands like Hester & Lizzie T-shirts, Antik and Earnest Sewn denim
and Izaak dresses.
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On its most basic level, Moskoff admitted, her store concept isn’t that
different from T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s, and Filene’s Basement, the type of
off-price stores that Moskoff, a lifelong bargain shopper and one of four
sisters, used to frequent for the discounts as well as the layaway policies.
But the store looks nothing like the hodgepodge of the more mainstream
chains. It resembles a traditional boutique, with lots of space between
well-organized racks of apparel collections and salespeople trained to give
personal attention. The only giveaway that Beta Boutique is something
different are the price tags. And it’s not just the price discount; it’s the
available sizes. Most samples do not run larger than size 8.
Local jewelry designer Joan Lysiak believes that Moskoff has latched onto
something that will resonate well with designers and consumers alike. For
businesses like hers, who are left holding a number of sample cases at the end
of a season, Moskoff’s store offers a way to neatly display and sell
first-quality goods whose only fault is they are past season. And for
shoppers, Beta Boutique is something different in a city that is seeing an
increasing number of boutiques, many of which are trying to set themselves
apart by scheduling martini nights, shopping parties and designer trunk shows.
“The days of just a store owner opening their door is over,” Lysiak said.
“Store owners need to do a lot more to get the business. The retailer really
needs to be aggressive and not just hope the customer comes in.”
Moskoff isn’t the first in the area to try her hand at the concept. Fox’s,
a New York import, has operated a store in Skokie since 1989 and relocated its
Chicago store to Lakeview in 1999.
Moskoff acknowledges other challenges as well. Beta Boutique’s business
will be slow when traditional boutiques run their own sales and clearance
events. The average woman is a size 14, not a size 6 or 8, so only a sliver of
the general population fits into 40 percent of her inventory. And Beta doesn’t
offer online commerce because some designers would balk.
Also, while Moskoff will continue to hold occasional roving sales,
operating a permanent location takes away some of the urgency that turns
browsers into buyers at those events. To combat that mentality, Moskoff sends
monthly e-mails to 5,000 people on a mailing list, describing new collections
headed for the store. And since she has no selling experience herself, she
hired salespeople.
“Selling is an art,” Moskoff said. “Customers love suggestions as long as
you know when to not push. We want people to walk out of here looking good.
We’re really honest. We’ll tell someone if their butt looks fat in those
jeans.”