Wholesales

[stephj]

Hi,

I am in the process of setting up a clothing boutique. The problem I am facing at the minute is where to look for wholesalers and how to approach them.

Does anyone have any tips???

Thanks

[adrenalinee]

you can try 'the trader' magazine. It is a stock buying magazine.

google it.

[shamrocker]

Do you intend stocking mainly name brands?

[stephj]

Thanks!

Yeah I hope to stock name brands

[shamrocker]

Most brands will have a Head Office or Sales Dept you can contact and they will give you information about having a trade account with them. Most will also have area representatives (reps) who you can contact and they will arrange to call with you. If you haven't yet set up the shop, it may be difficult to get the bigger brands on your side. I know from experience that it is much easier to get other companies to take you seriously when you are actually set up. You also need to know what you are talking about and sound confident in what you are doing. I say this because I feel you are at the begginning of the learning curve and therefore are not 100% sure what the road ahead holds (not that any of us are!). But these companies, who will be potentially going to offer you credit terms, will want to be assured that the goods they are supplying you with are in good hands and the business is being run properly. It's similar to going to the bank for a loan. They also have a brand to protect and will often require the retail outlet to be of a certain standard before letting their goods be sold there - so they probably wouldn't supply them to a market stall, for instance. I remember a few years back, when I was greener behind the ears, I contacted a few companies about getting supplied goods. I was very naive and probably wouldn't have run a very successful business because of inexperience. I can now make some of these same companies jump through hoops to get business from me, and it comes naturally due to the experience. So keep at it and you'll learn most of the answers along the way!

Now, although from ym experience, many fot he big brands won't let their products aside from dealing direct with the main brands - there may be wholesale companies out there who supply the products you require. You'll have to pick through the web or trade magazines, etc. http://www.thewholesaler.co.uk/ mightn't be a bad place to start.

[stephj]

Thankyou very much for your advice shane! That was very helpful and I will take it on board.

I just need to get an idea of how much things cost and therfore how much I can sell them for in order to write my business plan. I need to make some sort of contact with suppliers but I will have a look which is the best way to do this.

Thanks again!

[jnorris]

hi, am new to this site. I am orginally from the UK but now living in OZ. It has always been my dream of opening a fashion boutique. I am now at the research stage of deciding which brands to stock and my like 'stephj' am starting to make initial contact with wholesalers/distributors. It's a daunting process. My main concern is sounding inexperienced and running the risk of the brand lables not dealing with me. But everyone has to start somewhere right? And in order to get a clear vision and a business plan surely you need to find out what your product and pricing structure will be.

Is there any other advice out there on making initial supplier contact without any premises etc? I feel that once this is taken care of it will be easier to get the ball rolling. Does anyone know of any good business books or websites that might help?

Many thanks
JN

[missbossy]

Originally Posted by stephj

Thankyou very much for your advice shane! That was very helpful and I will take it on board.

I just need to get an idea of how much things cost and therfore how much I can sell them for in order to write my business plan. I need to make some sort of contact with suppliers but I will have a look which is the best way to do this.

Thanks again!

i can get ahold of stock, depending on what you are looking for.

The goods are predominantly sold in the high street.

Who is your taget market?

[aa412]

Have either of you considered getting smaller designers on board first e.g good fashion students/independent lines? You could try opening up with that first and then bigger brands might take you more seriously because they see you have a model that works. The plus side to that is that independent designers can pay you a "rent" for you stocking their clothes and also a % of every sale you make.

[bill mccallum]

The big issue with brand names is that they will have a set of criteria that you must meet in order to buy from them, which can include the quality of your shop fittings, how you display, what other brands you will be carrying and a minimum purchase, all of which can make it difficult for the new starter to get involved.

Previous advice on starting with new designers would be your best way forward.

[missbossy]

Originally Posted by aa412

Have either of you considered getting smaller designers on board first e.g good fashion students/independent lines? You could try opening up with that first and then bigger brands might take you more seriously because they see you have a model that works. The plus side to that is that independent designers can pay you a "rent" for you stocking their clothes and also a % of every sale you make.

My site will incorporate a section for customers to recommend (upload) an idea, design of garment aimed high street customers. Polls to suggest which style customers will purchase. Then i will make the ultimate decision whether to manufacture it, providing i feel it will be cost effective and popular. I intend to give a royalty to the "designer" as an incentive for designers etc to get involved.

As i mentioned, i have excellent number of contacts. Depending on what market you are targeting, you might find them useful in sourcing garments.