An Edmonton-area shop proprietor is hoping that people may adopt her special business concept, which involves selling clothes out of a van.
One of the first retail businesses in the Edmonton area to pursue a growing tendency of companies across the country finding new ways to sell their goods is Boutique On Your Street, which opened next summer.
Wendy Smith, the owner of Boutique On Your Street, stated to 630 CHED Mornings with Bryn Thomas that she was inspired to start the company after leaving her retail career.
In a Monday interview, she said,” I was a single mother of two children and I knew I wanted to work for myself.”
” I originally wanted to start a shoe store here in Spruce Grove, but I could n’t afford to stock one and rent one, so I had to make other choices”.
A colleague then suggested that Smith operate the company like a meal vehicle. She eventually completed the entire renovation of a retired Strathcona County van.
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She and her business partner took to the street once the vehicle was filled with shoes and clothing.
” We have been on the four walls of Alberta, and even into Dawson Creek, B. C., earlier this year”, Smith said, noting that the bank’s social media channels give visitors a heads up on where the vehicle will get each month.
” We were lower in Canmore and Jasper and … Beaumont”.
Smith said that when people second move onto the vehicle, they are frequently shocked. It looks like a typical vehicle on the outside, but it’s a perfect store on the inside, she said.
” One of the first issues we get is,’ Are these antique clothes’ or,’ Are these used clothing?'” she said.
” They’re brand new … I’m not going to suggest we’re the first people to actually buy clothes out of a vehicle … but we’re the first people that have special, brand new, one-of-a-kind items that are from all over the world”.
She said the firm has been well received. Some of her customers actually have traveled by bicycle from one location to another. Due to the smaller room, one of the biggest challenges is having to be very careful with the product stock.
What we do is that we try to find those special items to add to the clothes you purchase at brick-and-mortar retailers, according to Smith.
” So it’s just that little bit of something more, so you can put it to your clothing, just to zhuzh things up a little bit”.
Smith stated that there are plans to increase the number of cars in the ship to allow the company to operate in several locations at once.
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