[jshade]

Hello guys, I have been thinking alot about makeing shirts that would be High-end. I want to print on pretty expencive garments and see if a High-end botique owner would give me a shot at getting in. The thing is I want to be in a small botique that sells shirts for like $80 bucks like Bonnie and Clyde Botique.

Theses kind of stores generally only carry name-brand clothing lines, but I was wondering if these kind of stores ever take chances on brands that arn't known but are made with expensive garments and awesome graphics.

Another thing, I live in Chicago and I want to wholesale to High-end Botiques in L.A (T-shirt weather all year ) What would be the odds of making any of this happen? Any input on this idea would be much appreciated.
-Thanks everybody

 

[jshade]

Nobody likes L.A? lol. Well if anyone has ever sold to some sort of boutique before that has held expensive clothes, that would be good to hear.
-Thanks guys

 

[760rdl]

Nobody likes L.A. ???? what are we talking of hear...

 

[Rodney]

Nobody likes L.A? lol. Well if anyone has ever sold to some sort of boutique before that has held expensive clothes, that would be good to hear.
-Thanks guys

You can find lots of tips on selling to retailers (including boutiques) here: retailers related topics at T-Shirt Forums

 

[jshade]

Thanks for the link Rod!

 

[MarLai]

It's defintely possible to get your line into high end boutiques but it's not an easy thing to do. If you're going to crack into that market segment you will need a top notch product that is worthy of hanging in the store along side the other brands. You should try to start with at least 20 designs to be taken seriously.

Once you tackle that hurdle you will need to do the following at the bare minimum to give yourself a chance;

1. Hire an experienced fashion photographer that specializes in editorial photos. This will help you create a professional line sheet/brochure and will give you good pics for your site.

2. Create a quality e-commerce website that displays your products and sets the tone for your brand.

3. Research and scour the internet for boutiques that your brand would be a good fit for. Try to find as many as you can in certain areas and then start calling them. Ask for the owner or store buyer - tell them briefly about your shirts and ask if you can stop by some time and show them your line. It's a numbers game - you'll face a ton of rejection but sometimes you get lucky and can set an appointment.

4. Bring your shirts, brochures, and order forms to the appointment and let them take a look. If they like your shirts they will probably pick 4 or 5 styles and order 1 2 2 1. Then if you want to sell them again you will need fresh designs.

5. Exhibit at apparel trade shows - I believe there's a good one in Chicago and there's regional shows in Atlanta and Dallas and other areas. The shows will cost you $3000-$4000 but it's easier to pick up new boutiques this way rather than cold calling.

6. Try to find a sales rep/showroom that will rep your brand - this is very difficult for a new brand to accomplish.

Of course there's a lot more to it than that, but this should give you a general idea of how to go about it.

 

[jshade]

Thanks alot for the direct info MarLai. Its gonna be hard trying to hit those points, but im gonna see what I can do. Thanks again for the info.

 

[jshade]

I have just one qustion about that last part. What do you mean by "If they like your shirts they will probably pick 4 or 5 styles and order 1 2 2 1."

Whats "1 2 2 1"? Does that mean they will probrably buy 6 garments in differnt sizes?

 

[MarLai]

Yeah unfortunately, one small, 2 mediums, 2 Lage, one XL. Some boutiques will order more but it's rare for a small specialty store to place a huge order on a new and untested brand. They are taking a risk buying your product and they will usually go small on the first order to see if they sell.

If your shirts are flying off the shelves then they will likely re-order but keep in mind these type of boutiques want to keep their inventory fresh so they always want something new, whether it be your new designs or the next brand that they want to try out.

 

[jshade]

Thanks alot for the info MarLai. If the store only orders 6 units would it be reasonable to ask for net 30, even if your a new brand coming out of the blue?

 

[MarLai]

They might ask you for net30 and it's up to you if you want to allow that. I prefer to get a credit card or a check on the spot or even COD. Giving them terms is a risk but some boutiques will demand it. It sucks when they don't pay up, because then you have to hound them and become a mini collections agent.

 

[jshade]

I have two other questions:

If I wanted to sell my (high-end) garments to a high-end boutique that had tops that sold for $140, would it be reasonable to try to sell 6 garments to that store for $70 each?

Also, is there anyway I could expect to sell to boutiques every month or every two months? Or do they usually do bulk purchasing of all their brands at once?
-Any input would be great, thanks guys.

 

[MarLai]

It's going to be quite difficult to sell a $70 t-shirt to a small boutique in today's economic environment, but you never know. A lot of boutiques will want a minimum 2.2 mark up and some even higher such as 2.4.

As far as ordering - that varies from store to store. I've found that most do their ordering from January-March and then they will fill in with smaller orders as needed throughout the rest of the year.

 

[blankCLOTHING]

I think you would really need to step your game up in order to get your shirts into a boutique. If you are an unknown brand, you really need to show that you can compete with high end fashion. That would include a very proffesional website, models, big price tags on your website, ect. Your whole image has to be high-end. Not only that, your products must be high end as well. Most of the time, you need to be rich to open a richmans brand. I think L.A. is a good place to start though, you're more likely to get people to pay more there.

 

[Corel Whisperer]

You could also try test marketing your designs. Get some pretty young thing to wear your designs and shop in a few of the boutiques you are looking at approaching. Have her listen for any feedback on what she is wearing both is someone comments on the designs or if she is shunned from the shop. For that matter you could check out what is popular in the shops by going in yourself and watch what Customers are looking at what they purchase as long as you can do this without looking like you are a stalker! If you are a pretty young thing than you can do this yourself! As James said you have a lot of work ahead of you. If you are looking to sell out in L.A. you will need to spend several months there to see what they are buying.

 

[kimura-mma]

If I wanted to sell my (high-end) garments to a high-end boutique that had tops that sold for $140, would it be reasonable to try to sell 6 garments to that store for $70 each?

How much are you selling your shirts for now? Unless you have a sales history that supports your brand can retail for $140, then I would find it unlikely you can wholesale for $70. It takes more than just high end garments to command that price. It's all about branding. What is it about your brand that makes it worth $140 alongside the big name brands currently in the high end boutiques?

Keep in mind that many of the high end brands have high minimum orders and buy-ins. So these boutiques are spending tens of thousands of dollars to carry those brands. While you may be offering low minimums, which carries lower risk, it may not be worth it to the retailer to even bother. For instance, if they buy 6 shirts at $70 from you, they are spending $420. If they double the wholesale and sell them for $140 each, they stand to make $420 profit when all is said and done. For a retailer that has $35,000 invested in Christian Audigier product, what is their incentive to make $420 off your shirts?

Sorry to sound negative, but that's the reality of selling to high end boutiques. You need to have significant value attached to your brand to the point where the boutiques want to carry your brand because it will make them money.

 

[turquoisetees]

Great info to keep in mind.
Thanks

 

[MarLai]

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to wholesale your shirts for $70.00? Are your costs that high or are you just assigning a price to be perceived as high end?

You can still go high end without retailing at that $140.00 price point. It's going to be much easier to find specialty boutiques that sell tees priced in the $40-$70 range than it is to find stores that have price points over $100.00 for a t-shirt. Not to mention you will appeal to a much broader demographic if your shirts are priced reasonably.

 

[jshade]

Thanks everyone for the fast and very useful input. The clothing line that I want to start would be an all female clothing line. The reasone is because there is more of a market for high-end womens clothing. Look up this store ( Arcade boutique.com or Singer22.com). Im a fine artist/graphic designer, and I want to use high-quility material to print beatiful artwork on and also have more things added to the garments (which im not going to mention )

Kimura-mma, you made a very good point when you said "For a retailer that has $35,000 invested in Christian Audigier product, what is their incentive to make $420 off your shirts?" My goal is to approach botiques as a low risk investment that could possibly grow in sales over time. As BlankCothing said, id have to come to these botiques with the best presentation possible. My goal is just to keep things small, if a boutique wants to try my brand out but dosnt want to order another 6 units later, then thats ok. But I do belive I can get to the point where I could wholesale about 200 units every 2 months to multible stores with low minimus.

MarLai said that I could still work the high-end market without having to shoot for such high prices.
But the reason why I want to compete in the market with brands like "Wild Fox couture" is because I actually want to make a living off what im doing. I want to inject myself into the market in a very small way and try to grow from there. If I sound crazy or complety naive, feel free to let me know. I guess the point is I want to take my best shot at it.
-Thanks guys

 

[kimura-mma]

You don't sound crazy or naive at all. You have a goal and you seem focused, so that's a good start.

But I think you need to continue your research on the price points when supplying high end boutiques. While keystone pricing is very common, I wouldn't assume that the wholesale price is $70 just because the retail price is $140. It's more likely that the wholesale price is lower and the retailer is marking the product up very high.

Generally speaking, retailers have much higher overhead than clothing brands. So they will expect higher profit margins. For you to command a $70 wholesale price will seem excessive to most retailers, because they know it is unlikely that you are spending $35 on the production of each t-shirt. If you are spending that much, then you may be able to justify that price point. But if you are spending less than that on production costs, you are expecting too high a profit margin and I think you may have a hard time finding retailers to purchase at that price. Let's say you are spending $15 per shirt on production (which is a pretty high cost), then you can easily offer wholesale prices of $30. This allows the retailer plenty of room to work with in regards to margins. They can start the retail price at $100+, but if it doesn't sell, they can put it on sale for $60 and still be making an acceptable profit.

I understand that you want to make a living off what you are doing. But to successfully supply a high end boutique, you cannot view yourself as a "fine artist/graphic designer." You have to view yourself as a "high end boutique supplier." You need to learn about their side of the business and understand what they need and what will make them want your product.