by Nicole Dennis Durnin | Nothing new to report on the construction front over the past week. We are a little delayed as various approvals needed to be received before proceeding with the permits. Now that they are all in place I am hoping that demolition will begin within the next week.

Meanwhile there are many other aspects of the business to work on. A major part of starting and running a clothing store is the buying. It sounds like a fun job, particularly for a shopper and fashion lover like me, and it is, for the most part. I think what people don’t realise is that it takes a lot of planning and editing to find the right product mix for your store. You are not really sure who your customer is at the beginning and what they are going to like and dislike. You buy what you would wear and hope that clients like it as well. I don’t doubt that the product mix and various lines that I have bought will change once the store is open.

This past weekend I attended LA Market Week, which happens five times a year before each fashion season. This time around we were buying for Spring 2010. Attending tradeshows is always a daunting task; you need to go in with a game plan. During Market Week there are a number of tradeshows which cater to all sorts of buyers and boutiques. It takes a couple of visits to know which of these shows are best suited to your store.

I usually start by booking appointments a week in advance with the Reps for the lines I currently write for Lynn Steven. Sometimes, if a Rep carries several lines I’m interested in, I can be with them for a few hours. It is all about finding something new at these shows. You wander floor by floor, showroom after showroom, looking for that one item to catch your eye.

After this most recent jaunt to LA I think the New York shows are next on my hit list. I need to find some edgier lines to carry at the store that better reflect Gastown’s fashion edge. Vancouver is a small city and to stay competitive in retail you need to always be looking for the next best thing, something you can’t find just around the corner. I am finding that this is something that takes a lot of time and patience, especially as I build my product mix for Lynn Steven.

Hopefully over the next week we will get brown paper up on the windows and we’ll be knocking down some walls!

Read Part 1 of “Lynn Steven”