From the Vault: How to Buy Direct in LA with Fashion Buyer Jacqueline Holmes

Back to the bonus episodes. This is one of my favorite you guys talk about an honest conversation about what it means to buy direct in LA with an experienced fashion buyer, my friend, Jackie Holmes. Now, since this episode has aired, Jackie has, in addition to selling her retail business, going all in on her buying and on her wholesale business and on her own wholesale line. Along with repping several awesome brands, Jackie just has all kinds of worldly experience in the retail industry. So I'm excited for you to hear it straight from Jackie. Jackie, tips for buying direct in LA and her views on our industry. Bring it back for this awesome bonus episode with my friend Jackie Holmes. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works. From mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the.

Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat.

As you continue to grow your boutique, there's definitely one strategy that you need to start implementing and that is buying so much smarter. You know, part of buying smarter means really understanding the product life cycle that your inventory goes through and knowing where it comes from, knowing how it's manufactured and how you can get the best product pricing on the inventory that you're bringing in. So for many of you, going direct to LA and working with those manufacturers and the companies that you're often buying with direct is very beneficial. Now, for not all of you, it doesn't make sense to go to LA on a regular basis to bring in fresh inventory. Which means it's time for you to start working with a buyer who's your boots on the ground, helping you scout fresh goods and bring them in on a regular basis. Now that's exactly what our friend Jackie Holmes with LA Fashion Concepts does for boutique owners. And the cool part is our friend Jackie is actually a boutique owner herself, a successful one at that, with two going on three storefronts, been in business over 10 years and can not only walk the walk and talk the talk, but she's also your best friend who's been there, done that, and she can give you some great insight, not just in terms of buying, but also operating your business. So guys, this week we have a ton of information for you in this episode about what it means to buy in la. Common misconceptions that boutique owners have how to scout the Right. Type of trend for your business and how to make the most money at the end of the day to make sure that you're growing efficiently. So get ready. Jackie is a straight shooter. She tells it like it is and I appreciate her so much as a human being. She is one of our dearest friends in the industry and we can't wait to go to LA in just a few weeks and work with her and a large group of buyers that we're bringing out from the boutique hub directly because she's going to show us around town and I can't, I can't wait to see her insight on all that happens in the LA fashion district. So get out your notebook and get ready for episode number 34 with our friend, Jackie Holmes.

Alright, guys, welcome to the show today. I'm so excited to have my dear friend and a complete expert in this industry. And she'll probably laugh at me saying that, but she is, she's humble. And is my friend Jackie Holmes, a lead buyer in LA with LA Fashion Concepts, her own company and a boutique owner herself. So, Jackie, you've got a ton of knowledge to share today. I'm so excited you're here.

Thank you. I am so flattered to be asked. I love listening to the podcasts. They're very entertaining and super informative. So I'm hoping that the listeners will get some takeaways from this.

I'm sure that they will. I've got to go back. I'm trying to remember how you and I actually first met or how you came into the boutique hub, but we've had the privilege of meeting each other in person now a number of times. So it's been really neat to watch your companies grow.

And honestly, I don't even remember how the hub, how I even found out about the hub, but the minute I did find out about it, I was like, I need to be a part of this. This is a, this is something, this is gonna be something big. And it is. And it's a, it is such a wealth of knowledge for the boutique owners that was not available when I started. I mean, I, I learned by trial, trial and fire, basically. But once I found out that I was, I'd be reading through threads and they'd be talking about coming out to la, buying. And I was, and I think I messaged you and said, hey, I'm a buyer in LA and I would love to be able to offer my service to you. And I think just, I don't know, we just became very fast friends after that.

So well, one thing I really appreciate about you is your honesty and the way that you see things. And also, I mean, because we hear such great feedback, the way that you serve your clients, I think from a unique perspective point of view, because you are a buyer in la, but being a boutique owner yourself, you bring that perspective to the table when you're serving your clients. So I'd love to know more about. Just to kind of give everyone perspective on where you started, how you first got into the boutique side of things and then transitioned into being a buyer.

Well, I had my first job in fashion when I was 16 or 17 years old, and I really wanted to be a fashion buyer then, but my parents, unfortunately thought that was kind of a silly career. So I ended up getting a degree in accounting and was in that sector for a few years. And I was with a federal. Part of the Federal Public Defender's Office. And we. My agency was defunded by Congress, and I needed something else to do. So I was always really good at buying and selling things. So, weirdly enough, I started a car business, and I owned a car dealership for 13 years.

Really?

Yeah. Yeah. And what's even weirder is I used to buy and sell for other car dealerships. Like, I would go to auctions and buy, buy for them, just like I do fashion now. And it hit me a couple of years ago, I'm like, oh, my gosh, you're doing the exact same thing. It's just now with clothes. And I was in that industry for 13 years until the stress of it was about to kill me. And I got to my office one day and I put a lock on the door and I walked away from it. I couldn't do it anymore. And so I took some time off. And a friend of mine kept asking me, let's open a store, let's open a business, let's open a boutique. And I was like, no, I don't want to do that. I said, well, maybe if, you know, if we get the money pulled together, I don't want to have any debt. And if we find the right location. And I kept throwing up all these roadblocks. Well, one after one, the roadblocks never appeared, never materialized. We blew right through, opened the business up, and turned a profit in our first 45 days. We opened up on November 15, and at the first of the year, my business partner decided that it was too much work to own a boutique, and she wanted it out. And I was like, well, okay. So I bought her out. And the rest is kind of history. And I ended up having one store and then two stores, and I started coming out to la. About every six months, I'd come out and I'd buy a ton of merchandise because I knew I could get it cheaper out here. I had talked to my vendor friends in Dallas and in New York and they were like, you need to come out to la. You'd really enjoy it. So I did, and I really liked it. I liked being on their turf and being able to negotiate terms. And so I did that for years. I'd come out every six months. And funny enough, my start to being a buyer actually came from one of my biggest failures. I had two locations of frock and I got talked into opening a third location. And I kept saying, I don't want to do this. I don't think it's a good idea. I don't think this is my demographic. These people don't understand me. I don't think there's enough traffic in this area. And I kept getting told, no, it's going to be good. You don't know what you're talking about. Every time I brought up an objective, it was, you don't know what you're talking about. And I started to believe, well, I guess I must not know what I'm talking about. Well, I did, and I faked. That business failed within, like, the first couple of months. And I couldn't get out from underneath it. And it was costing me about $10,000 a month. And I was roughly about $175,000 in debt because of it. And bankruptcy wasn't an option because a lot of the money I owed it wasn't going to go away. And I had to start really thinking hard about, okay, how am I going to pay off all this debt? I started going back and thinking about how I used to come out to LA all the time. So I talked to my general manager and said, hey, I'm going to start going out to LA more often. I'm going to go out once a month and I'm going to buy it. Load up, load up on things we can really have a high margin on. This is how I'm going to make up all this money. I'm going to buy tons of jewelry while I'm out there that we get an 85% profit margin on. That's going to help me pay off all this debt. So I did start coming out here every month and started whittling that $175,000 down. And once I started coming out here, I had Friends that were boutique owners that said, hey, while you're going out there, why don't you need this, this and this? Why don't you do some buying for me? Like, I'd love to do that. And I would meet women at market and they're like, yo, wait, you go to LA all the time. Can you buy for us while you're out there? Sure. Well, that's how LA fashion concept started. It started because I had failed. And through that failure has come one of my biggest successes. And yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's kind of cool. And now I, and I'm going back to what I originally wanted to do when I was 17 years old.

Isn't it amazing how everything really does happen for a reason? But sometimes when we're in the moment, you feel like you've got blinders on and you can't see what the win is going to be in the trial that you're facing at the moment. But really how beautiful it can turn out in the end.

Oh, it is. But good Lord, Ashley, it is really difficult when you're facing that, when you've got this staring down your face, down your face and you're thinking, I have built something for six years and now I'm gonna go under and I'm gonna, and I have all, I have 20 employees that aren't gonna have jobs and how in the heck am I gonna pay this money? How am I going to come up with this? You know, I'm older. It's not that easy to get a job in the regular sector when you know, when you're pushing 50 years old, it's not that easy. But yeah, I mean, how, how odd, how odd is that to just it. And it has. And it's one of, and I love my job. It's one of my greatest joys. I work with on both sides as clients and with vendors. I work with some of the most amazing, wonderful, nicest people you will ever meet in your entire life. And I love going to work. I love talking to my clients. I love, I sit and have coffee with my vendors and have made some dear friends both on both sides. And that's just. Yeah. So sometimes. Yeah. One of your biggest, biggest failures, if you really start looking at non conventional ways of figuring it out. Yeah. Sometimes you really come up with something and you end up helping a bunch of other people at the same time.

Absolutely. How did you transition into then? You know, really running the buying agency more full time and letting your managers run the stores and did you, you must have eventually then closed down that third location because you still have two, is that correct?

Yes. And actually we're opening a third location in, I believe it should be open about November 1st. I was approached by a new, a new area in the, in Jackson, Mississippi and they, they gave me an offer I couldn't turn down. And I know it's my, I know it's my, those are my people and it's my demographic and it's, they understand what I do because I already have customers there and it's gonna be, it's gonna be good. I have an amazing general manager, Tricia Richardson, that started out as a very, very part time employee and she's worked for me for eight years now. And she's not just my gm, she is my partner. She is one of the few people that is ballsy enough to tell me when I need to check myself or I need to not do something anymore. Stop buying these. It's not selling. I know you like them, but stop buying them. People don't get them yet because I like to buy ahead of the curve and it doesn't always work. And she, she ended up starting out part time. She became my Madison manager and then she basically, you know, morphed into my general manager. And she does a brilliant job. We have so many policies and procedures in place to handle everything. Everything has a reason why we do it. We have checks and balances in place. I believe in giving people control and allowing them to take ownership of a frock. I want them to take ownership of it because when you do that, you don't get employees, you get little mini partners and they're not. And I don't mean that they have a say so in what's going on when it comes, all comes down to the end. But they know they can speak freely and they can give input and it's going to be considered and that they're a valuable part of the organization. It's a team and they're a very important part of the team. I know you do that with the Boutique Hub. You give ownership and when you give up control is when you learn that you can really flourish. It's weird because you think it should be the opposite, but it's really not.

Mm. It's a. For me, I think it was a Dave Ramsey concept that I first learned and it was the book Entree Leadership and he was talking about how do you build leaders that have an entrepreneurial mindset and can think creatively ahead of the curve and you know, rather than come to you with problems. They come to you with problems with solutions attached. And, you know, for me, I think that's a whole new way of leading people. And, boy, do I have a lot of work to still do. Leading people you met. But that concept, like you're saying, I think you're absolutely right. That's so smart.

Well, my. My aha moment was reading. You're a badass. Yes. And there is a chap. There is a. It's not even a full chapter on it. There is just a paragraph about giving up control. And when I read that, and I'll have to go back and find it, but when I read that, it was like I got hit with a lightning bolt. I was like, wow. Oh, my God. Ok, that. That makes sense. And I started doing that. And you know what happened? My sales went up, my people were happier. Everybody felt like they had a really bigger sense of importance. I've always been good at delegating. Mm. And I've never been much of a micromanager, but I really gave up control and I allowed everyone to flourish. That. And she talks about manifestation.

Had you been a manifester before that or was that a new concept to you when you read that book?

I kind of was, but not really reading. I've read her book. I probably read it six times and I've given away probably six copies of it. I'll borrow it out. I never get it back. Oh, I borrowed it to a friend. Like, let her keep it. Keep the chain going. It's like the traveling pants of books. But I really never figure out how to apply it to me. But they. Her quote about, there's an infinite amount of money out there, if you really think about it, but you have to draw it to you. If you have a bad. If you have a bad feeling or bad thoughts about money, you're driving it away. The same. Like if you're taking a test. If you keep telling yourself, I'm not do good on this, I'm not going to do good on this. Guess what? You're not going to do good on it. If you keep telling yourself, I can't be a success because my father was a failure, or I've already had a business that failed, I can't possibly be a success. You're not going to be a success if you turn it on its tail and say, you know what? I may have a habit of family history of having a lousy. This. Or my parents weren't good with money, or, you know, I did have this other. This failure But I've learned from it. And I'm open to success and I know I can be successful because I deserve to be successful. Guess what will happen? You can be successful. Oh, man.

Two things that you said jump out to me that are so true. The first is what you just said I deserve. I think it's that knowing I am worthy.

Right?

And admitting that you are actually worthy of success and all that entails. But number two is the power of the I am statement. Because whatever comes after I am is true if that's your truth. So if I am not able to do this, or I am a failure and you will be, but I am capable, right? Or I am willing, then you are. But you just have to first find that awareness of what it is you're saying in those I am statements.

And that's completely true. And manifestation is. It just. It just isn't about business or money. It's about personal relationships. If you keep telling yourself, you know, you know, my father left when I was little or, or I had a boyfriend that dumped me, I must not be worthy of being loved. I must not be worthy of having a good relationship, then that's what's going to happen. If you are like, I'm not going to put up with this anymore. I'm not going to allow someone to disrespect me or tell me that I can't do something because I am worthy of having love and being loved. It's going to come to you. It may take a bit. It may not come at you when you're expecting it, but it will. You have to put it out there. It's just all about putting it out into the universe, man. Let's.

We could talk about this all day. I think this is so valuable and worthy, no matter what business you're in. I think the mindset and having that personal awareness before you approach your business is just critical. Right? Business is what, 90% mindset, 10% skill and luck?

It is. And a lot of it is just pure hard work.

Yes. So let's talk about the LA fashion district and, you know, your daily life.

As a buyer in la.

I know that there's a lot of people listening, many of whom who I think are probably traveling to LA more often than they were in the past to buy. And there's some that I think would like to, but are just curious about how it all works. So before we kind of get into the nitty gritty details, I would love it if you could help me and the listeners just by giving us Like a big picture overview of the world of fashion. When you know a design is originated, how it goes into manufacturing, it's imported, distributed, and lands on a boutique shelf. Can you kind of give us that quick overview?

Sure. I mean, it's a lot more complicated than you actually think it is. I mean, most designs pretty much, whether it's couture or whether it's fast fashion, it all starts out as a sketch. Okay. From that sketch, and there's usually a fabric swatch attached to the sketch. That sketch will be sent off to a sample maker and they will take the fabric, make a sample, and then from that sample, that sample gets tweaked once, twice, three times for fit, whether the fabrication is the right fabrication for that design. Once the sample is done, then it gets sent off for manufacturing. A lot of. There's a good bit of manufacturing being done in LA right now. Most of it goes to China basically, because we do not have the skill set in the US anymore to produce a lot of our own goods. We don't have the knitting looms like we used to. We don't have sewers that are talented enough to produce jackets with linings or embroidery. We don't have that. We don't have the skill. We don't have the machinery anymore. So it gets sent off to China. And from in China, it takes usually a normal production run. It takes about between 70 and 90 days to produce an item, and then it takes a couple weeks to get it from China to the US Then once it gets here, it will hit the distribution centers of all the vendors, you know, at like say Umgee. Umgee has a distribution center that they basically get it from the port. It all comes in by ship, comes from the port, it goes to their warehouses, gets of course, anyone with it that does just manufacturing in the hub, like even T shirts or whatever that the distribution part is. You know, it has to be all checked in, you know, sorted out. You know, the samples have to be sent out to their reps, to the showrooms, to whoever is actually selling it. Most, most goods go up for pre sale, meaning at market. Those are the items that are for pre order. And that's one reason it's important to do some pre ordering. Because you want it when it comes in. You want to get that immediately because they're going to. They start fulfilling orders the minute it hits their warehouses, and then you know what they have left, you know, and then at the same time, they're selling it from the showrooms or their showrooms in Dallas. So there's, you know, there's, it goes from basically coming into ports, the wholesalers to the distributors and then it goes to, of course to the, to the retailers. And a lot of, actually a lot of what comes in goes to other wholesalers. They will buy full runs of a style and then it's relabeled under their brand. And there's actually a couple very successful brands that use that business model and there's nothing wrong with that. So. But there's, I have, I'll have clients that'll ask me about manufacturing and I'm always like, do you, you mean you want to design your own and then produce a sample, send it off for manufacturing? You know, and a lot of times they don't, they don't, they don't understand how time consuming and how many pitfalls there is in that. They, they, they're more interested in buying like a full run of something where they have the only that they're the only ones that have that style. Which, that's a great thing to do. It's a great way to set your store apart. But just in like the, from the manufacturing till it hits the distribution centers, there's so many pitfalls. There's, there's fabrication issues, manufacturing issues. Chinese New Year when there's no product coming in during the rainy season in China, you end up getting goods in that are mildewed or moldy or they come in with bugs. And so it's, you know, the, the manufacturing aspect of it is actually the, it's really not glamorous at all.

So that, and not to mention the, the quantity, I don't think people understand the quantity of goods. And also, you know, could you elaborate? You know, if anyone's new and they're listening to this, understanding the difference between that pre order item and what's ready to ship and how when you see those pre order items at market, they haven't come in on the ship yet.

Right.

They have samples. But based on how many pre orders they get, how then we go into full production.

Can you see? I hear a lot of women complain that you know, I pre ordered this and I didn't get it or you know, I've ordered this but it's on back order until November. Well, it's not on back order, it just hasn't come in yet. There's two, I mean, I guess it's one of the, it's kind of the same thing, but not really. Doing a pre order basically means that you are placing an order before the item actually gets into the distribution center and you're going to have first shot at it. I always recommend to clients that they buy first runs. And what I mean by that is it's the first cut of that exact style. So, meaning no one else has had it before you. Okay. If you do pre orders, you're, you're more inclined to get a first cut. Now at lafc, we, when we take pictures every week, we are looking for new arrivals, meaning they're, they're new. It's a brand new style. It's just come in, it's a first cut. And that's what we want our clients to be buying. Because even if their neighbor down the street orders it off of Fashion Go, they may not get it until the second or third cut because it's going to sell out in pre order and it's going to sell out in the showrooms. And there's actually a hierarchy of how orders are filled. The manufacturers don't really want you to know that and Fashion Go doesn't want you to know that either. But there's a hierarchy of how those orders get filled. Pre orders from showrooms take, usually take first precedent or pre orders that you've placed through the, the actual vendor showroom, say in la, take precedent. If you're buying through a buyer, we normally get precedent over a Fashion Go order because frankly, the vendors know that we're going to make certain our clients pay for their goods. They're not going to have to call them five times for a credit card. So that's pretty much. And then you have things that are basically in stock ready to buy. And those are all the styles that are exactly what it says. They're sitting in their warehouse or in their back room of their showroom and in San Pedro, ready for you to take with you within, I'd say a 24 hour period.

Is there also a hierarchy of order quantity, larger orders being filled first?

Yes. Yeah. If you order a bunch of packs, you're going to get your stuff first. Perfect. We run into that a good bit because we buy a lot of the same product from the same vendors as Vichy Collection and she likes to buy up everything. So usually we end up getting the packs that are left over that she doesn't take. Same with jewelry. We use the same. I buy from the same jewelry vendor that she does and we use the same. The manager helps her, who also helps me, and she'll buy basically whatever Vichy doesn't take out of styles. She'll have them in a box ready for me to Go through, which is great. It's very, it's, it's really nice to have that luxury. You bet.

I mean that, that's a boutique that's just going crazy places, just doing a tremendous job.

Yeah. But she really has found her market. That's the biggest part is she knows her market and it's. Her market may not be everyone's market. Plus some of the things she buys, if you look, see it in person, it's not that great. But she styles the heck out of it and she has great photography and everyone knows that even a great photo, you know, a great photographer can make a pig look like supermodel if they, if they want to, you know.

So that styling is key. Absolutely.

For everybody.

Can you talk about kind of the, you know, our fashion industry is changing so much today because of fast fashion, which is really what we're discussing. But I know like frock and a number of boutiques also who are in the hub. We've got a number of higher end brands as well. You know, that free people level the show me your moo moo level. Can you talk kind of about the difference in, you know, both working with brands like that as well and quality and just kind of understanding what you're getting for what you're putting for?

Yeah. And I think my, my view on this is not always really popular. I really feel in order to differentiate yourself from the boutique down the street, you really need to have a couple, you know, quote unquote, zip code protected brands in your store. If you only have things that you're buying on fashion, go. That doesn't set you apart from anyone. Now there are zip code protected brands that you can find at Dallas market, in the showrooms on the 15th floor or in Atlanta or in Vegas that are affordable. They're not all $60 a unit. I mean there's things that you can pick up 19-$24 a unit Z supply is a great example. They're great. It just, it sells, it sells like crazy. And it's a great brand that it just gives you that little bit of oomph, you know. But the biggest difference really between those higher end brands besides the quality is the quality. There is a big difference in quality. You do get what you pay for. A lot of it has to do more with fad versus fashion. And what I mean by that is it's kind of like the Forever 21 type of mode, the disposable clothing. And disposable clothing tends to be more faddish. It's not something that you're going to wear for multiple seasons. Now, it can be trendy and you can wear it for numerous seasons, but a fad is a very fleeting moment. Fashion is usually those higher end brands. Those are pieces that you buy. You can have them in your closet. You can wear them for several years without them looking dated. They still look on trend. And it's important to have, you know, as a woman to have those pieces in your closet. And as a boutique owner, it's important for you to have those pieces hanging in your store. And the biggest thing it does when you bring in branded lines that are a little bit more expensive is it elevates all the less expensive things in your store. If you have your goods prepped properly, everything is steamed, you have a nice hang tag on it, they're on proper hangers. You mix in some little bit, Little bit. It doesn't have to be greatly more expensive brands, but slightly more expensive brands that have a name brand to them. It's going to elevate everything you have in your store. It really does.

Absolutely. The consumer today is also looking. I think there's consumers that are still going back to that, that are wanting more of that brand recognition. Where I feel like it kind of went away for a while, but I think it is becoming important again.

Well, I think people also want quality.

Yes.

You're not gonna get, you're not gonna get a bunch of wares out of a top that you paid $6 wholesale for. I'm sorry, you're just not well.

And it's important, I think, for boutique owners, like you're saying, to illustrate that.

Right.

You know, and to not be so price conscious when you're selling your goods online, you know. Yes. This is a $29 top versus a $49 top. Well, why is it different? And if a boutique owner can eloquently illustrate that you're going to get three washes versus 30 washes. Well, now that, that increase has definitely paid for itself. But the education on the front end so you can educate your customers on the back end is crucial.

Well, and this all goes back to mindset. If you keep telling yourself, I can't sell anything that's more expensive than this, guess what? You won't.

Yes.

But you have to try.

Preach. I'm dropping the mic for you, Jackie, because I totally agree. I think all you need to do.

Is explain to them. Explain to them why this is more expensive. Yes. No, you can't get a beautifully lined blazer for $39. Sorry, you're just not every woman needs to have some investment pieces. Now, an investment piece to someone who is on a lower, lower end of the income scale, the price point is different than some, than an investment piece that say is a classic, you know, Chanel dress on someone who's on the high end of the income spectrum. But I have pieces in my closet that, you know, were $89 retail, $99 retail that I've worn for years. Well, you're. But like I said, it all goes back to mindset.

Agreed. Do you think that there are common misconceptions when it comes to buying in la?

Oh, yeah. And it has nothing to do with fashion. It's scary, it's dangerous. I've heard a million. There's no good place to eat. There's no restrooms. And I just laugh and I'm like, what part of town are you in? Because you. It is downtown la. You have to be careful there. And there are homeless guys that are sitting on the corner. They're on the same corner every day. And even if you walked up and kicked them, they probably wouldn't do anything to you. They're just hanging, hanging out. Okay. You will meet something if you walk in a showroom with a smile on your face and, and you're friendly, you will meet some of the nicest people you'll have ever met in your entire life. If you walk in acting like you own the place and these people are beneath you because they work in a showroom, you're gonna get that right back at you. So. And there's plenty of great places to eat and almost every showroom will let you use their clean and like, eat off the floor clean restrooms. I've never seen cleanliness to such a level as in these showrooms. It's crazy. And a lot of them actually have buyers lounges now where you can go in, you can plug your phone in, you can use their wif. They're super hospitable. But so, yeah, I think that, you know, the biggest misconceptions is. And that and the fact there's nothing of better quality in San Pedro. There's actually some really nice lines there. You just have to know where to look for them.

Can you talk about building relationships with your vendors? I think this is something you and I have had, you know, personal conversations about for a while now and how, you know, buying is truly a partnership between the retailer and the wholesaler. And it's not one side serving the other, but it's a lasting relationship. Can you talk about your experience with that.

Well, the first thing I have to say is, and this is just, if your mother never. Parents never taught you this when you were little, they didn't do you justice. Because the most important thing in life is to treat others like you want to be treated. Okay? It's the same with building relationships with your brands. If you have a good relationship with a vendor, they will bend over backwards to help you. If there's a damage, they will get it taken care of jiffy quick. If on the flip side, if you call them up and you're screaming at them on the telephone over 8, $8 top, you're not going to get anywhere. And they make notes. They will note in your file, basically that you're difficult, just like you would. Just like you would at your. At your store. You'd be like, oh, my gosh, I don't want to deal with her. Who has to. Who has to work with that woman today? But it's like you, you. You will get everything by being nice to people. We were talking before we jumped on the podcast that, you know, these showrooms aren't out to steal from you. They're not out to steal your credit cards. They don't, frankly, most of them don't need your money. They're doing quite well, and they don't need your credit card to go buy things. It's just like when you go to market, people are really scared about going, like in Dallas to the 15th floor and talking to the showrooms up there. But that's where you really can get some insight and really get some help in building your business is with these showroom owners. Most of them have lines that you can afford that'll help set you apart. And if you build a great relationship with them, the minute they get in a line that they think is in your price point or it's going to work for you, guess what they're going to do? They're going to pick up the phone or send you an email and say, hey, I want you to get the jump on this before your neighbor down the street gets it. Because you're nice and they like you, and that gets you a long ways.

Oh, man. We could talk about Marty's showroom and David and all of them on that 15th floor. You're absolutely right.

Known these guys for 10 years. And I call them. They're my friends there. We don't do. I mean, we're friends and they call me for advice. I call. I'll call them once in a while when I need Something. And I mean it. We have dinner together. I mean, that's just. It's a great way to build your community. And at the same time, you have to learn how to. If a relationship with a brand that you're working with, with a showroom isn't working out or a relationship with a showroom isn't working out, you need to be graceful on your exit. You need to be graceful on how you bring that to them that you. It's just not working. Because these guys all talk, and the guys, the guy reps are way bigger gossips than the women.

Just, you know, and the men on the 15th floor, I have to say, they all have wonderful hair on top of it. Side note.

But I. I learned a lesson years ago. I had a brand that I was selling, and I was like, I. It didn't sell for us. I don't even know why I kept writing the line. Because. Well, I did, because I was friends with the showroom owners, and we'd get it in like, oh, my God, we got these in again. Just stick them 40% off. Let's move them. So finally I told one of the owners, and it was actually Stacy Ray. I said, stacey, these aren't selling for us. She's like, then why the hell. Why the heck do you keep writing them? I don't want you to get mad at me. She was like, I am mad at you. And I'm like, well, see, I told you this is why I didn't want to. I didn't want to drop the line. She's like, I'm mad at you for not talking to me about this. And for you to continue to keep writing a brand that you're not selling. That's why I'm mad at you. Don't ever do that again. And guess what? I never did it again.

Oh, so good.

Yeah. Live and learn.

Absolutely. So if someone's listening and they're curious about, you know, whether it's working with a showroom owner or, you know, working with a buyer like yourself, would you say that there are certain traits that a great buyer has? If someone's willing to collaborate or even hire a buyer on their own team for their store, there's things that they really need to be most keen on.

I think a lot of it is just. It's personality traits. A really good buyer, they know their customer. They know what their customer wants to buy. They know their proven bodies, and they know they're proven sellers, and they know how to. How far they can push their customer. You got to Push your customers a little bit. You got to get them outside their comfort zone a little bit because frankly you want them to be fashionable. And they're not going to be fashionable if you keep selling them the same thing over and over again. So you got to know just how much of a push you can give them, how far outside of their little box can you get them. A great buyer also has restraint. They don't just go to mark. I call them, I call them vanity buyers and you'll see them at market, they have this rack full and they're like, I'll take 20 packs of everything. And they're not doing it because they're selling it. They're doing it because they want to look like there's somebody. Well, that's a great way to put yourself out of business. And it's a great way to have to put all that stuff on sale because it's not going to move and you're. And it messes up your cash flow. So showing restraint is a big deal. You know, just because it's cute doesn't mean you have to buy everything. You kind of have to, you really need to. And a good buyer sticks to their open to buy. They know their, they know their financials, they know their numbers and they, they try to stay within them or if, or if they go over them, it's not by a lot. Okay? They're adaptable. If something isn't working, they're not scared to change. You know, you can't beat a dead horse. It's, you know, if something's not working, it's not working. Sit down and figure out what is working. Go back to your proven bodies and your proven sellers. And that's to me that those are the keys of being a really good buyer. But knowing your customer is key. Whether it's a client or customer, it goes both ways.

Can you talk about their open to buys for a minute and just how you see most of your clients bringing that data into you? Are most of them, you know, running their own types of reports, exporting from their own point of sale systems, working with an open to buy planner or how does that data analysis enter your hands?

To be honest with you, I only have a couple clients that actually give me an open to buy and then I buy within those parameters. Whether it's dresses, dressy tops, casual tops, basic tops, bottoms. Most of my clients work their own numbers and when they're ordering from the photo galleries, they know what's fitting or they'll call me up and say, I've got $10,000 worth of open to buy. I need sweaters. And I'll go up and like, okay, give me, give me a half an hour. Have you a bunch of pictures and then we'll, we'll lock it all down. So most of them take that control themselves. I only have a few buyers that give me their numbers and I'm the one that basically makes certain that they are staying within those numbers.

Gotcha. Would you say, you know, the most successful clients that you have, is there something that they all have in common or traits that you see of successful retailers that you've worked with that are in common?

Yeah, I think they have a really good gut instinct. You know, you have to trust your gut and they have a lot of it. A lot of my successful clients have all the same traces as a successful buyer. They show restraint. They trust their gut instinct. They know what they're talking about. They keep a positive outlook on things. They, they don't get drugged down because they've had a bad day or a bad week. They, they're not there. They're looking at their numbers more as a whole than on a daily basis. They also know their financials and they don't over buy. And those are the most successful ones. If you want to know why you're not getting a paycheck, you have to do is look at your financials and it will tell you. And usually all you have to do is walk into your stock room and if you have a stockroom full of merchandise hanging back there that you can't put out on your sales floor, guess where your paycheck is. It's hanging on those hangers in your back room. There's your paycheck.

Yes.

Oh my gosh.

That's one of Sarah's favorite sayings. There's 20$20 bills just hanging there.

Don't get over inventory. And that's the, that's the, probably the biggest key to having a buyer is honestly is because way we do things, it keeps you from getting way. It keeps you getting over, under inventory. If you really do your job, you know, it's easy to get carried away once in a while. But you really, if you know your numbers and you're buying every week, you can, you can on the fly adjustment your inventory numbers and according to what your sales were for prior week. And that's the best way to run a business is doing that and that and, you know, keeping up with your pre orders. I'm shocked at how many people don't have any sort of Even a file folder that they keep copies of their pre orders in. Like, how are you supposed to know what, how much money you have going out?

There's your point of sale system right there.

Well, I mean, for frock, I have file folders for every single month. I have copies of every invoice that's coming in, and that's how I keep up with it. And within that file folder, it's all separated out, whether it's a San Pedro line, whether it's a branded line, or whether it's net 30 and they're all separated and that, and then all of those are also put into a spreadsheet format. And that's how I make certain that I don't have. We have more of a problem being over inventory than under inventory. And I, you know, and I'll have to say, no, you can't have those. You have 16 of those coming in. You can't have those. But you have to be able to say no.

You talked about a successful boutique owner helping move her clients, say, comfort level with fashion and trend along faster.

So how do you, how do you.

See successful boutique owners really spotting the right trends for their demographic and knowing when is the right time to bring that in? If it's early or if it's late?

I think a lot of it has to do with part what part of the country you're in. If you're on the west coast or the east coast, you can jump in on a trend immediately and they're going to understand it. The further in you get into this, into central US, we start running behind. Now my stores, we pretty much stay ahead of the curve because we've got, you know, we have clients that they go to New York, they go to la. They're really up on what the latest trends. And we buy a lot of things that are Gucci inspired or Dior inspired from this season. And our customers, we say, oh, this is, this is, this was inspired from a Dior dress or this is similar to a Dior dress we saw in Vegas. They understand that. But a lot of it goes back to say there's a new trend on like snake print or cheetah print. Okay. They say snake print is really big. And you're like, I don't know if my, my customers are gonna, they're gonna, they're gonna like that. You bring it in that, in a, in a, in a proven body. Like, if you, if you do great selling little A line dresses, bring it in a little a line dress that, you know, the shape is gonna sell for your customers and it's a proven body. Or bring it in as an accent piece, like some cute little booties. And then you show them how they can pair it with just something very simple, some jeans and a cute sweater, and they're like, ooh, I like. That's cute. I like that. But you have to help them. You have to help put things together. And if they sense that you're enthusiastic about something, they will jump in. But if you show hesitation, like, well, you know, I'm really not crazy about velvet, but, you know, everyone says these are gonna sell well. You might as well just throw them in the trash because no one's gonna. And you're laughing, but I hear that a lot.

Oh, I do too. And I think you're spot on. Oh, I think there's a lot of truth to that, for sure. Can you talk about private labeling and, you know, if you think that that's something that's important for most boutique owners when they're buying out there.

Yeah. If you're. If you're a. If you're a website, then you can kind of pick and choose. Okay. Because people aren't, frankly, they're not gonna. They're not perusing through your warehouse of what brand you're bringing in. If you're a brick and mortar and you have competition, you've got competition down the street, and you're moaning about how they're getting all your lines, blah, blah, blah, you need to buck up in private label. Private label. Between private labeling and bringing in things that are first cuts, that will keep you ahead of your competition. It will also help you. Excuse me. It'll allow you to raise your profit margins big time.

And I know that we've got a couple. I think there's maybe two different companies that private label even, that are members of the boutique hub. If someone's listening and needs that resource.

Right. I use Brandmaster. I used to use another one, but I had really terrible issues with them, and I'd use them for years. And we had to part ways gently and softly, but we had to part ways and started using Joe with Brandmaster and I. It's amazing difference. And we private label usually probably at least 1500 units a month, at least. So now it's probably going to be more like 2000 units a month. But I. We're in a. My stores are in high dollar areas. Our overhead expenses are extremely high. I pay more in rent in one month than in my Madison store than some boutique owners pay for an entire year. Which is mind boggling. But I couldn't, I couldn't afford my overhead if I was at a 54% profit margin. You bet. Mar. Average profit margin for the goods we purchased in San Pedro is 73%. Wow. Is 85%.

Man, I hope everyone listening just took note of that. That's a big deal. There's your paycheck.

Yeah, yeah. If you private label, it's $11, so 39. Yeah, yeah. It's the easiest thing on earth to do. They consolidate, they consolidate your shipping on top of it. So it saves you even more money.

You bet. And that's a huge topic today. Consolidated shipping.

Oh yeah.

What other terms should you be looking for when you're working with your vendors? Whether you're buying in a showroom at a show or you're out in la. What terms and conversations are important to you?

Well, honestly, in la, most of the vendors out here, you can only make something so cheap without it affecting your margins. I mean they don't have little gerbils, you know, sewing these shirts up at $6 apiece. So a lot of them, they, you know, they'll, they, they can cut 50 cents off, maybe a dollar sometimes, but they, there's no drastic margins. Like I just, a friend of mine and I are starting a, or launching a T shirt and sweatshirt line and so I went in and bought 400, I think it was 450 units of a sweatshirt in three different colors. But I mean they only had so much they could go down on the margin on. You know, I still got it. I mean I got a great deal, but I was, that's pretty much what you have to, you have to be buying a couple hundred units for them to be able to like, you know, come off of that. And certain vendors, they don't have it at all. I've got one vendor we buy sweaters from and I can walk in there and buy a hundred packs and they can't cut me a dime off because they do not have a nickel of margin to lose to me. Terms is much more crucial when you're dealing with branded lines. Personally I like net, net 30 or next is net 30 or net 60 terms with a discount. That's pretty much what I, what I'm looking for with a lot of my vendors that we place large orders with as it gives me 30 days to sell through. But you can also, you know, if you're buying, if you're, if you walk into showroom and you're buying a sufficient quantity, and I mean more than Couple of packs. You know, ask if they can help you out with the shipping. Shipping is expensive. See if they'll comp you shipping, you know, anything like that will help out. Or if there's a style you really like and you could use, and you say you sell more mediums and larges. Ask them if they have any broken packs that they can. They can give you a deal on.

That's a great question to ask.

Yes. Just little things like that. But don't walk into a showroom and be like, oh, I see. This is $24. Can you take 17 for it? Because they're just gonna be like. They're just gonna secretly roll their eyes and walk away from you. And that's the end of your conversation and see it happen.

I'm glad that you said that because I think, you know, I want to mention this, too. There's a number of brands, whether they're in LA or all over the US that are members of the Boutique Hub. And a number of them are generous enough to offer free shipping or a slight discount to Boutique Hub members, but it's really at their own will and their own discretion. And sometimes they're just show specials or sometimes they're ongoing. So it's worthwhile to ask. But I think kind of going back to what you said earlier about building relationships with vendors and having integrity and kindness, there's a difference between asking and demanding or expecting.

Right?

So it all comes back to that kindness and how you approach it, and then being grateful and thankful for the ones who are able to offer it when not everybody is able to. But really thanking and appreciating those who are well.

And I think that being appreciative and not demanding goes back to even, like, when it comes, you know, new boutique owners. And this sounds a little harsh, but stop asking so many questions. Do some research, and if someone does give you help, thank them for it. But don't you don't expect people just to do everything for you. It's the same way with vendors. Don't expect them to do things for you. They don't have to. You know, it's. It all. You know, being respectful is just. It's just. It should be just an overall, you know, it should just be an overall given whether you're, you know, starting a business and you need assistance or whether you're purchasing or you're at market, being respectful will get you everything, you know.

Completely agreed. Completely agreed. Lessons from your mama, right? So as we kind of wrap up our time together today, I would Love to hear, you know, kind of let's step back and look at this big picture point of view for a moment. And you know, you've been in this business for a long time, Jackie, and you've seen so many changes happen. But I'd love to know your perspective on really how you see this wholesale relationship for boutique owners changing over the next two years. And what is it that's exciting that you're looking forward to and what should we be aware of that you think will be on the forefront soon?

Well, I mean I honestly I see, I really see a reduction in like the regional fashion markets, like maybe not like Chicago, but the smaller ones like Minneapolis or just the little road show. Some of the little road shows I actually really envision seeing even Dallas cutting back on the number of markets they have each year because there's so many markets right now that attendance is down. It's so oversaturated and it's diluting, it's diluting, you know, the attendance records. I think you're gonna see, oh, I think you're gonna see a lot of vendors opting not to go to market. They're not, you're not gonna see them on the 12th and 13th floors anymore. They're gonna be more inclined to have them have you come out to LA or buy from their own websites, not from a buying platform. I know for a fact from talking to some of my friends that they're like, we're not, we're not going back to magic again. We didn't make the numbers. These shows are extremely expensive, extreme, unbelievably expensive. And they're like, we can put our, we can put our money into something else. And I think there's going to be a weeding out period. I think we're going to be, we're going to see some brands that are weeded out that are going to cease to exist. I've seen this going on over the last few years and I think you're going to, you're going to see a good number of boutiques that they're going to be weeded out also. But you know, it's, it's saying survival of the fittest is not exactly what I would like to say, but it's, I think it's going to be more like there's going to be a number of them, that there's going to be a failure to thrive, that women, it sounds like a great thing to do, but when they get into it and realize how much time and money it costs to create A successful business, it's daunting and it's draining and it can really affect your family life. And I think that there's, we're going to, I really believe that we're going to see, we're going to see a weeding, weeding out period. I think you're going to, you know, we're going to see an uptick in people buying from, buying platforms. Once, you know, there's a couple, you know, there's, you know, there's other buying platforms other than fashion go. But I think we're going to see more brands joining buying platforms like Jor and New Order that are lower priced, lower priced lines that are basically LA San Pedro lines. I've seen them jumping on to New Order, which is a great buying platform. I also think that we're going to see an uptick in people either, you know, they're either going to start coming out to LA to buy or they're going to, or they're going to start hiring buyers because people realize how expensive it is to travel to market or travel to la and they, a lot of people are, they're understanding that I can take that money and I can put it into inventory or I can put it into, into building my brand or revamping my store. But I really do think that we're going to see, we're going to see there's, and I know there's going to be some big changes coming up as far as markets and this in 2019, just from people I've been talking to in the industry. There's, there's going to be some changes. So it's going to be interesting. But you know, changes, changes, a lot of times they're for the better. You know, you don't need to fear change.

You bet. Well, Jackie, one last question for you. I know that you put your heart and soul into everything that you do and your clients, I've heard from them directly just how you treat them and how you're like a sister or a mother or that wild aunt that you want to go have beers with, whatever it is. I know that relationships are so important to you. So I'd love to hear as you think about 10, 20 years down the road for you and you look back on what you've created both with the boutiques and with this agency, what is the legacy that you really hope to leave and the thing that you want people to remember you most for?

Honestly, I just, I really want to be. Well, first and foremost, I want to be remembered as being a really good mother, because I think that's super important. But as far as business, I really want to be remembered as, you know, someone who was kind and who is helpful. I read, and this kind of sums everything up for me. I saw a quote the other day, and I actually put it on my screensaver of my phone, and it says, no matter how educated, talented, rich, or cool you believe you are, how you treat people, ultimately tells all, integrity is everything. And I think that pretty much sums up how I want to be remembered. I love it.

Jackie, I appreciate you. Thank you for your friendship and for the person that you are. And thanks for spending time sharing such knowledge with us. It's really valuable, I know, to so many people that are listening, and I just really, really want to thank you.

Well, and Ashley, I want to thank you, too, because you. You are just. I'm so glad we met, and I am so grateful for all the opportunities you've given me. It's, you know, nothing in this industry is a given. And when you're given an opportunity and you're able to run with it, man, that's something to really be appreciative of. And I definitely am. And I think you have really built something amazing, and I am excited to be a part of it going forward. That's all I know. I'm just. I can't wait to see where we all go from here.

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