6 things you didn’t know when Boutiques go buying

It’s that time of year where all the fun begins.   As an owner of a Boutique or even as a buyer for a Boutique, February and August are taken over by Fashion shows all over London, Spain, Paris, Dublin and anywhere else the globe calls.

The diary is filled with appointment’s looking at different collections. The job of a buyer is soimportant.  The buyer needs to know their customers - making sure they are picking prime pieces for each season and keeping up with the current fashion trend.  But you need to remember who will be buying your clothes and the chances of it being super models is very slim…

Buying season is something I love and hate at the same time. Networking & socialising with other Boutique owners, getting inspiration from each collection and seeing what each designer has to offer are only a few of the fantastic benefits to the experience.  But on the down side, it means a lot of travelling.  It may seem like a dream job to some people but it also means being away from your family, and for me just having a baby 7 weeks ago I will find it hard in the future to make it all work around the schedule!  A lot of the shows are on weekends so this means your days off go with that and so-to does family time.

We buy full seasons ahead

We always buy a full 6 months ahead of time. We are currently browsing collections for SS19! The good thing about this is we will have just finished up with Summer Sale knowing the must haves and not-so popular items of the summer. Unfortunately though, it’s mostly guesswork, as we can never fully predict what the fashion trends will be in this media-run world!

Prioritise comfort in Style

Long days are all inclusive in buying trips…I remember when I first started I made the gruesome mistake of wearing heels one day – my feet did not thank me for it.  With all the walking around it’s important to prioritise your comfort, but obviously you have an impression to make so the style is never compromised.

Only one brand can be in one town

With competition high, it’s a given that only one store can source a brand per town.  With our towns all being particularly small, it’s important we are quick off the mark to get the best brands in store for you, our customers.  Be it travelling to Dublin, London, Germany or Paris, we do our best to have the widest selections of brands hand selected in store for you.

You need buy a certain amount of pieces in each brand

Minimum requirement is a pain, but policies are policies!  We can’t be angry that a brand expects us to buy in bulk be it our first time or a repeat order, as they want a good wardrobe spread of their products throughout our store to get their name known but it means sometimes we have to send items back because we don’t always get it right…we’re only human!  But know that when we have a brand in store or online, we have a variety of their collection on our rails.

Different Areas have different styles

Be it Omagh or Enniskillen, the style differs.  Not everyone has the same generic style.  Some like to keep it simple, while others are adventurous and want their outfit to do the talking for them!  So we have to travel far and wide to cater for all our customers, keeping in mind their type of style for each individual so we have something for everybody.

Lifelong Friends are made

Networking and making connections is a key part of buying trips. You have to gain contacts so you can better you own brand as a boutique and get your name out there.  But through this, having dinners or coffee, it’s important to realise we make lifelong friends that will always be there when we need a hand, even though they may be our main competition!

Work hard and Play hard

Through it all, fun and games are had also.  It’s not all bad!  Because for every buying trip, there’s a bottle of Prosecco!