The Shoe Goddess

2004-05-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged for a while. My life is slowing down a bit, for a while. I stopped taking French until the Summer. Anna (my 10 year-old) is taking an acting class three mornings a week this summer and I will take French during the time she is in class.

The Shoe Goddess Boutique creeps along. I am getting bids on remodeling the space for the store. I need shoe display cabinets built and a dressing room, an office and storage shelves for shoes. I am having a logo designed and when that is completed, I can have my sign made, new cards, and start my advertising in the paper. I am planning to advertise starting in July, two months before I plan to open.

I am going back to LA next month to buy late Fall and Holiday clothes. I truely believe that no education is wasted. How did I learn to long term plan, you ask? ICU nursing. I had 10 hours to perform a long list of tasks, as well as monitor the patient and make changes in medications on a regular schedule and as needed. It required planning and constant review and revision. Planning a store is not all that different, just different tasks to keep to keep it alive.

The amount of stuff is overwhelming in scope that a store requires. A credit card machine system. Although now there are machines that will validate personal checks, also. Pretty cool. Boxes for wrapping presents, bows, shoe box sized bags, garmet bags, tissue paper, try-on nylons, hanger, just for starters.

I need to oil the teak pool furniture today. More scenes from my glamours life.

2004-04-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

First Show
I attended my first shoe and clothing show in Los Angeles at the beginning of April. I went to Fashion Week. Fun. Yes, it was. I guess all those years of shopping were not a waste. Market is shopping, only you don't take anything home, and you buy a lot of sizes. My approach was to put together outfits I would like to wear that coorinated with the shoes I bought. I liked everything I bought. I probably would not wear all of it (certainly not at once), but I could see someone else looking quite nice in it.

I suppose that life is just as predicatable as people, meaning human behavior trasulates into predicable and repeating patterns. Some showrooms were friendly, warm, helpful, busy or aloof and one had an atmophere of evil. I do believe that the Devil wears Prada and she runs a showroom in LA. Really, no need to be so overtly nasty. It was LA, not NYC. The atmosphere in each showroom reflected the person who owned the showroom.

I finished off the trip by going to Rodeo Drive and talking the shop owners and workers and handing out my card.

2004-03-22T18:11:00.000-08:00

Adventures in fashion had right here in Redding. Seems I called the CEO of Coach Shoes at his home and gave him my information requesting a return call. Needless to say one of his minions called back to inform me of my faux pas and find out where I found the number. I think it must of been the number on the WSA website.

When I decided to find out how to start a shoe store, I asked the owner of the sole upscale dressstore in town what she knew about shoes. She told me she thought the largest shoe show was in Las Vegas. So, I did a search for shoe shows in Las Vegas and come up with the WSA. I missed the Feburary show, but scrolled through the vender contact information and printed the information for the brands I like. Then, I called the showrooms (NYC) and got Westcoast contact information. Hummm. I have called a lot of people. Some have even called me back.

2004-03-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here with my fashionable daughter on my lap thinking how lucky my daughter is to have such a fahionable mother (this was dictated to me by my daughter, lest I sound bizzaro) We are waiting for father/husband to show up so we can commence our trip to Napa Valley for the weekend.

No luck so far in finding a place for my store. I have until 1 June, but am anxious to sign a lease. I have been in contact with several shoe reps and have made some market appiontments. The trick to stocking a store is to have brands that draw customers, but those brands usually come with heafty minimum orders. However, from the shoes I have seen, I want them all.

I going to work on some policies and proceedures this weekend, as well as visit a few shoe stores.

2004-03-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today I opened a business account. I also realized that I had miscalculated the number of days I would be open yearly. That happens when you plan on a 57 week year. I also spent my morning calling New York headquarters of shoe showrooms. Some were cordial, others were rude. I left many messages on phones for return calls. I am exhasted.

2004-03-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

I started this blog to chronicle my adventures into the fashion industry and record starting a small business