Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Lesley Evers: Her First Store

My friend Lesley Evers, a clothing designer, has just opened her first store on College Avenue in Oakland. You might have read about Lesley before on my blog. Her new store is beautiful; a sparkly, candy-trove of colour with something fun and interesting to look at in every corner. I've been fascinated by the process because - let's face it - which of us doesn't dream of opening a store?


Lesley with Dotty. Photo by Lara Rossignol























Lesley already sells her clothing in 200 boutiques around the US but this is her first eponymous shop, selling clothing as well as jewelry, scarves, bags and i-phone covers.  The area she's in is called Rockridge, a leafy shopping district with more than 40 restaurants, as well as bakeries, gourmet ice cream parlours, boutiques, bookshops and hairdressers.

In order to make the store more personal, she collected the Sixties and Seventies furniture and light fixtures from Alameda Flea Market and made the orange velvet curtains from vintage fabric. Her husband, Curtis, took some branches, spray painted them gold and tied them with rope. He also spray painted an Italianate table bought on ebay and built the counter and dressing rooms. The oil paintings are all by Lesley.

Jennifer who owns Bella Vita, a vintage and new boutique one block away, helped with the "merchandising" - that is, how the clothes are styled and displayed in the store. Jennifer previously worked for Gap and is really talented at creating visual treats.

Lesley's aim was to make the store fresh, modern and welcoming. "It was fun but really hard putting it all together. Having Jennifer's expertise was critical. I don't know anything about retail, though I'm learning quickly! As it is I have to make so many decisions every day, but this was a whole new category that I was unfamiliar with. Thankfully it's done and it's going really well!"

I asked Lesley for her first impressions on opening:

1. So great to be next the the toy store (Rockridge Kids) lots of moms buying birthday presents. The hair salons are good too! Means lots of people are walking by.

2. We're on a corner next to a bus stop and fire hydrant. This turns out to be a big plus - no one can park and block the windows from the sight of people driving down the street (the man who painted our window sign pointed this out to me.)

3. There is no way to guess what day will be busy - a rainy Wednesday was our busiest day yet!

4. The interior was hard - too many decisions! I thought we could do it in 2 weeks but it took 6. Our second store will be much easier since we would try to duplicate the first one.

5. It's important to have a variety of price points. We try to have jewelry that starts at $15 and top out with a coat at $345. Sometimes people want to leave with something without spending a lot of money.

Thanks Lesley - wait - you're already talking about a second store? As one of her love-heart candies say: Dream Big.

Now, if you had a store, what would it sell? (Mine would all my favourites: fish and chips, toweling cover-ups, tiaras and cashmere cardigans. Amazed it hasn't already been done.)


38 comments:

  1. I love her taste and would love to get up there and check the store out. Her dresses are darling! Great necklaces too...I can see you wearing all these pretty brights Jody.

    I would love to have a store with clothes for holidays...swim suits, cover-ups, hats and sundresses and the most fabulous sandals and totes- Travel books too! Just being there and thinking of getaways would make me happy.

    xx
    Kim

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    1. Travel books and books about pools always do it for me too...

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  2. The shop looks so inviting, and I love the paintings!
    I can so see you wearing those clothes Jody...if she spreads to the UK you will have to be her ambassador.
    As for a shop of my own? No...couldn't do it...I know this reflects badly on me and my mean nature but I am so judgemental that I could only sell to people I liked...if the customer was horrible I would refuse to sell (or maybe hike the price up?)...but when you open the chip shop palace I'll be there......

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    1. Libby - you have the same discerning ethics as Tallulah with her Ohope Beach restaurant. Fish and chips will be served with vinegar and margaritas - do those go together?

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  3. I'd open a tea room/coffee shop with lots of homemade cakes - then when it's not busy I'd sit back and sample a little (a lot!) of all of them!!

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  4. That store looks amazing. Love the styling, the paintings, the jewellery and the colours. There's an almost Orla Kiely feel to it all. I'd never open a shop ... far too much work having to stand on my feet, six or maybe seven days a week. Much prefer shopping in other people's shops!

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  5. the store looks fabulous......good thing it's not near me as I could run up quite a debt!!

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  6. I like how the merchandise are laid out. The furniture goes well with the clothes. Good on her for doing what she loves.

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  7. Wonderful colours in Lesley's store!

    When I was a kid I wanted to have my own stationery store. I used to spend hours selecting just the right paper, pencils, etc.

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    1. Tallulah's like that too. She's never seen a notebook she doesn't like. We have an art store at the end of the road and I spend ages browsing pencils.

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  8. Oh, lots of things! Cheese,cocktails and lots of absolutely useless but pretty, sparkly gew-gaws!OK,maybe not all together?

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    1. Gee Gaws - haven't heard that in a while. Here they are called Tshochkes (sp?). Reminds me of AbFab when they agree they are going to have a store "with lots of lovely things darling"

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  9. As you know I'm a huge fan! So happy she has ventured into retail. The space looks amazing and I'm ready to get my hands on a few summer frocks!

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    1. Amy - you could make a field trip out here in conjunction with wine country. Would love to meet

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  10. This looks fantastic--- what a huge step having an actual brick & mortar location! Congrats to Lesley!

    Meanwhile, if I had a store of course it would be filled with stylish things... because, as you know, I am more than slightly fashion obsessed!

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  11. The wallpaper behind her is so great. I just adore her clothes I we sh her shop was down the road

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  12. Inge , I am so into groovy wallpaper at the mo. There is a lovely wallpaper at Bella Vita that I must take a photo of. Easy way to change the look of a room

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  13. Great article Jody! It was so much fun working on this with Lesley - I'm up for a dozen more stores - don't tell Lesley! She might take me up on it! Here is the link to the wallpaper at Bella Vita:

    http://www.hyggeandwest.com/collections/julia-rothman/products/daydream-white

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    1. Thanks Jennifer, will show this wallpaper to Tallulah - think she would love it in her room.

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  14. I wish we had Lesley's shop in our town - beautiful stock, great price points and excellent merchandising.
    My career was in retailing, with John Lewis, but I'm not sure I could be driven to start my own shop. My favourite department to work in was the book department but I did enjoy doing displays of fashion too. Can't have been that good at it though as I moved into Personnel within the company and that was far more successful for me.

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    1. Trish - I didn't realise you worked in John Lewis - used to love that store, I would walk down to the one near Oxford Circus.

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    2. I worked in the Oxford St store for a year or so from 1985 before. You might have seen me in bathroom fittings, haberdashery or ladies' fashion. I moved to their branch in Streatham, South London, after that for a year.

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  15. I would definitely be popping in if I lived over there! I like the way everything on the rails is organised and colour-coordinated. Your idea for a shop really made me smile - just picturing the cashmere cardigans next to the fish and chips.
    http://missbbobochic.blogspot.co.uk/

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  16. I would so visit your store. Eating Fish and Chips while shopping for cashmere! When my daughter got married this summer, my son's girlfriend was doing her hair and mentioned that it sure would be nice if she had a Tiara. In less than 5 minutes, my daughter and I handed her five - and that was in California. If we'd been in Tulsa where I keep the Victorian stuff, we would have had a few more. Next time I visit her in Berkeley, I'll have to get one of those scarves. Leslie Evers does the best prints. Really extra effort on her part, as prints are tricky to manufacture.

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    1. Beryl, love that you have access to so many tiaras. I do feel they lent such a sense of occasion to any er, occasion...

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  17. Love! I must go check it out. I love her dresses -- I've always bought them online & how fun to go try them on. I also love the paintings in the shop -- wish they were for sale too!

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  18. The shop looks lovely and I love the greeny dress in the 2nd photo!

    Oh my shop would be an Henri Bendel clone!!

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  19. But the fish and chips would make the cashmere all stinky :-( nice idea though and Lesley's shop is beautiful

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    1. I know. And that's why my ideas never get off the ground...

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  20. I guess location, location is true for stores and real estate. Cute shop, I want to go there.

    I'd maybe think about a store with clothes I liked, combined with jewelry I make and and a few pieces of antique furniture and art collected that are for sale too.

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  21. Congrats to Lesley on opening her own shop! I love her style of clothing and the mix of furniture in the store looks fab:)
    ~Anne

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  22. Oh why why why wasn't this store there back when I lived on College Ave?!! I so need that wrap dress up at the top--have been looking for a similar color DVF wrap dress for the past month and no luck. I'll have to find one of those stores. Congrats to Lesley {and she's so pretty too--not fair}!

    xo Mary Jo

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  23. Looks like the sort of treaure trove I would love to visit.
    As a young Mum I started a store with another Mum selling
    Outgrown children's uniform, riding clothes, ski clothes etc and like Topsy it grew and grew into a large emporium.
    I think it was my favourite career.

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    1. Wow, how cool. And that was way before the days on this supposedly "new Upcycling" trend!

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  24. Wow! Wow! And Wow! It’s truly an honor. Thank you so much! I’m new to this and working hard to get out there. Femme A La Fleur

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