1) What summer trends are you excited about?

I know my customers are coming in for the mini dresses, and the short-alls from Free People. In  April, our dress sales are 34% of our sales already, so we’re excited for more dresses in general, styles, and lengths.

2) What events do you have planned for the spring season? Feel free to tell us about anything fun you have planned for summer, too.

This year I’m making an effort to do more events. I’m partnering with friends and businesses to do more beauty-themed/makeover-style events. We just did an Open House on Thursday with a friend of mine who is a hair stylist; she provided brow tinting, and I featured new arrivals from Z Supply, Free People, Hidden, and the new Graphic Tee collab from Girl Dangerous. We had champagne, cupcakes, and a pair of Diff Sunglasses giveaway. Our anniversary is coming up at the end of April as well, we do custom cupcakes (apricot flavored on the inside) swag bags, and fashion cash. We also do a push through social media. I plan on doing something for Mother’s Day by working with a local florist to build your own bouquet! I’m networking with other ALB owners and adopting some of their event ideas as well! I’m using some of the resources we have going on in my personal life too, such as networking with the mothers in my daughter’s daycare, and planning a private shopping event for them. 

3) How do you stay connected with your customers? How do you communicate with her?

I don’t get to work in the boutique as much as I would like with two young kids. But I stay connected with social media with try-ons and talk directly to my customers through social media! The customers resonate with that and feel connected to me personally in that way. I do use Email Marketing for events, big sales, and birthday emails but try to reserve email marketing for those occasions so that I don’t overwhelm my customers with emails. 

4) What is one thing that you do to stay connected and engaged with your employees?

I have a fairly small team, and we stay connected organically due to that. They have been with me for a long time so they know the expectations and we all communicate well together. We communicate throughout the day and keep each other in the know. I love that Lightspeed has allowed me to take control of inputting inventory and pricing from home. They keep me informed if packages arrive and if customers have a question or an issue. I take them out to dinner, we’re going to have a pool party this summer at my home and I try to treat them to build a connection between them! 

5) What is your “why” behind being an owner of an Apricot Lane Boutique? 

My “Why” started from the very beginning. The boutique was open for 10 years before I bought it. It was my favorite place to shop in college and through young adulthood. When she was closing, I was heartbroken and at that point, I had moved back to the area and was working in a job I didn’t love. My husband and I talked it over, and when we realized it was a franchise we started the path of finding out what it would take to re-open it ourselves. I knew that if I was shocked and sad that it was closing, many others in my community were too. There aren’t many places to shop around here so I wanted to provide that bright spot for women in our community to keep shopping! I’ve also enjoyed making it my own and giving it a fresh look and feel. 

6) If you could give a piece of advice to a new owner, maybe someone who is about to open or who has been open less than one year, what would you say?
The numbers don’t lie when it comes to department and vendor stock turn. I look at it daily, because it’s so important to do and follow what your numbers are saying for that month and that quarter. Don’t spend all of your open to buy at Market, leave yourself some wiggle room to adapt to what’s actually happening once you’re open. Social media is a very important piece to getting new people in. Get new content for new arrivals! Use boosting and sponsored posts to get your content out there to expand your reach within your community. I infiltrate the local market with lots of content at smaller dollar amounts. It really does pay off over time!