Talk of the Triangle

This month, meet two local fashionistas and boutique owners: Mandy Becker of Swagger and Catherine Carter of The Gatorbug. Mandy and Catherine share their experiences in the fashion industry and list the wardrobe staples every woman should have. We discuss:

The leather pants trend currently prevalent in Europe—and catching on in the U.S.—and Europe's influence on fashion.
Mandy's trip to Barcelona and the Mediterranean, which focused on food and wine culture.
The background of Swagger Boutique: founded in 2002 by Mandy, who attended Georgia Tech and studied to be an engineer. After several years of working as an engineer, she decided to open Swagger.
Mandy's initial focus was to open Swagger as a gift store, but she expanded the offerings to include clothing in 2011 in response to customer demand.
Challenges in transitioning from selling gifts to clothing, including different buying cycles.
Mandy's learning curve in understanding fashion, styling and adapting to trends.
Studying body types, outfit composition and how in-store stylists can help customers pick out the right pieces.
Attending market in L.A. to bring fresh ideas back to North Carolina.
Swagger Boutique's Raleigh and Cary locations, including its Lochmere Pavilion store in Cary, where Swagger is one of the original tenants.
The importance of supporting small businesses in the community.
Catherine Carter's grandmother, Patricia, started an online business that she named "The Gatorbug," a nickname for her grandkids.
Catherine and her cousin Sydney Jarrell opened a boutique after Catherine's graduation from North Carolina State University.
Catherine studied brand management and marketing at NCSU.
The Gatorbug now has three locations: in Raleigh's Midtown East shopping center, Cary's Fenton development and Atlantic Beach's Atlantic Station shopping center.
Current fashion trends include pops of color, cobalt (the color of the year), pastels, and vintage-inspired styles such as wide-leg flares and ’90s trends.
The different customer bases for each location of The Gatorbug.
Catherine and Sydney attend fashion markets quarterly to source products for their stores.
The duo uses their education and experience to manage budgets and store inventory effectively.

Creators & Guests

Host

Adam Cave

Marketing manager, writer, content and brand creator, graphic designer, and arts professional

Host

Melissa Wistehuff

Social Media and Community Engagement Manager for Midtown Magazine, freelance writer + social media manager

Producer

Joe Woolworth

Owner of Podcast Cary, the Studio Cary, and Relevant Media Solutions in Cary, NC Your friendly neighborhood creative.

What is Talk of the Triangle?

"Talk of the Triangle" introduces you to the people, places and events worth talking about. We are talking directly to you—our region's educated and successful residents and professionals—about what makes the Triangle one of the country's most exciting and enticing places to live—about what makes the people who work and live here tick. These are the stories we tell.

Hosts Adam Cave and Melissa Wistehuff will discuss the stories you have loved, and introduce you to the stories we have yet to tell. We can’t wait for you to come on this adventure with us!

Adam. --You just got back from an amazing

trip.

did,

I did talk about it. Yeah. My wife and I finally took a vacation, the whole covid thing, kind of put travel a little bit on the damper. And then I did some travel last year, but it was kind of business related. But we finally took a vacation.

We went to Amsterdam and Bruge.

which was awesome. We, we kind of timed it so we could catch the tulips and

they weren't quite ready, but they were pretty good. So we walked through some actually bicycled through some beautiful flower fields, which was fun. Saw a lot of museums. Drank a lot of Belgian beer.

Yeah.

Okay. So Belgium is mostly beer, not not wine, or

No, no, it's, it's a beer kind of place. Okay.

So, so many beers.

I can know where to avoid.

I'm not a beer person.

Well, you will become one though. That's the thing. Like my wife's is a wine person, but we kept drinking these like Belgian blonde beers and they'd

Oh, okay. Like,

it, we make it right here. And you know, well, okay, we'll try that. Oh my god. You know? And then, you know, six later you're sort of saying,

This is a great afternoon. We're having wonder what we're gonna do for night. Yeah. Okay. So now it was a fun trip, a fun trip, but I know, you know, our show today is fashion related.

And we, I started this funny thing cuz I, you know how men sort of pay attention to fashion and sort of don't pay attention. I'm one of those kind of guys I sort of

Depends on what, what guy you are.

So we arrived in Amsterdam and admittedly, you know, it was 50 degree weather, a lot of cold weather, a lot of rain.

I kept seeing leather pants, women wear on women, women wearing leather pants, which I haven't seen around here in a long time. Like, I feel like that was like a, a fashion that sort of went away a little bit. But then I started counting, so I was keeping this count.

I'm like, there's 15, there's 16. My wife started laughing at me cuz I'm like, wow. And at some point I lost count. But it's definitely, it's a thing.

So I'm curious if it's gonna become a thing here, cuz I don't know.

can promise you one thing. You're not going to see me in leather pants. Okay. I won't be able to get them on, and I won't be able to get

get them.

Well, these weren't all tight leather pants. They weren't, I mean, they sometimes they were very slacky, very flowy. Just a lot of different variations, okay. On leather pants. So

See, I walk around the streets here and I don't count leather pants. I count mullets. I have a mullet tally,

Well,

you know,

including one of my own sons has started a mullet, and I'm like, honey, I'm almost, I'm gonna cut it off in the middle of the night,

You should. You should.

he might as well have a rat tail.

I mean, at this point I'd prefer a rat tail over 'em. Mullet.

Maybe it's a phase, hopefully, but it phase towards what, that's what you have to ask

Well, that's

one thing I'm gonna talk about is the cyclical, you know, kind of vintage fashions. Everything always comes back around and back in style. So hopefully the mullet will leave right as, as quickly as it came back.

you know, I, I was sort of, I'm a clean shaven man and I kept thinking the beard was gonna leave as quickly as it came in, and boy, it has not

left. No, it hasn't.

you you're right about that.

including our producer over there with his beard. I mean, it's like the beard is everywhere.

Yes, and well, I'm glad I just looked over at him.

He does have a beard, but he does not have a mullet. I could have really stepped in it on that one. I'm glad I didn't.

I was wishing I had a bullet for

Oh, no. Yeah, no, don't do it. Don't do it. Well, since today we're talking about fashion, we are welcoming someone who owns one of my very favorite stores. Anytime I'm looking for something and I don't really know what I'm looking for, you might not understand this,

actually. No, no. It's the difference between shopping and buying, right?

Very true. Yeah. Yeah. If I know that , I'm going on a trip and I'm going to the Caribbean, or if I'm going to a wedding, but I don't really know exactly what I'm looking for. I go to swagger. Awesome. , Swagger has two locations. There's one in Carey that opened in 2002 and one in Raleigh that opened in 2017, and I am near the carry one.

It's kind of one of those spots that I know I'm gonna need a minimum of 45 minutes before I go to that store, so I cannot swing.

right

And swing out. I've gotta, I've got a peruse, I've gotta be able to look at everything, feel everything good.

But today we are talking to Mandy Becker and I've known Mandy for years now, and I've known swagger for years now, but I've never known the story of how Mandy started swagger. So I'm really excited to hear about the history of swag. Hear about how it all came to be, how it came to be, my favorite store. So welcome Mandy Becker. Thank you for coming. Thank

Thank you. Let me address the leather pants

thing

Oh, we're gonna start right with leather

just need to like,

Oh, see, this is great. I get my questions answered right away. Good.

Good. Okay. So we sold at least, I don't know. like eight different types of leather pants last fall alone. I personally own at least four pairs, plus leather shorts.

leather shorts.

shorts. I actually also got, just got back from Europe and I Because the weather. Yeah. Even though it was so funny cuz I'm like, I packed wrong cuz I own leather pants. Right? But like their 65 is not our 65 and so everyone hat on leather pants. I also noticed the same thing, leather jackets.

I would do a leather

jacket.

But I just feel like I went through this fall here and I did not see that as style trend. Was it really going on here just as.

I mean, we, we sold a lot of leather pants, but I mean, I, I do think, cuz you know, Europe is ahead of us, so I feel like we're gonna see a lot more

of that

So this coming fall, the leather will

Yes. So they

generally ahead of us for

I think so. I, I noticed that. They have a lot of the same pieces. They just wear them differently.

They just have a different style to

Yes. Yeah.

They put their fit together

where, where were you in Europe?

Where were you traveling?

So I went to Barcelona and then on a Mediterranean

Nice. So you were a little better weather than I had, I'm sure. But that's, that sounds fantastic.

And a little more wine than beer.

wine Yeah.

Although the Spanish love their beer too. The Spanish do love

Oh, do they? Okay. I'm, I'm, I'm dreaming of a, a Spanish.

Yeah. you'll have

but I'm leaning towards the tapas, the paella and the wine.

That's

That's what I

that I, I choose my trips based on

Food. So do I.

Yes.

yes, yes.

So let's circle back and, and, and start talking about how swagger came to be you. I mean, if you started in 2002, you had to have been what, 12 yourself? You were 12 years old. Yes. Start from there.

Okay.

I went to Georgia Tech. I am an engineer by trade

and

Are you from Georgia?

I'm from Georgia. Okay. Yes. And after I graduated, went to work for a big corporation and I hated it. And the whole time that I was doing that, I would just dream with one of my friends. We would sit on our porch and I'd be like, all I wanna do is own a gift store.

And I knew I'd wanted to own a gift store since I was like 16, but my dad was like, you're going to get an engineering's degree. So that's what I did. So I graduated, it was two years later, and I said to my husband, listen, we're poor. We could live in a cardboard box if we wanted to.

Can we just start this? Can I try this? And he was like, okay, well give me a like a plan and had a hundred page business plan by the end of that week. He knew I was serious. Yeah. And then nice. You know, if you've been in Carrie for a while, So I'm on lock, mirror drive and Kilder Farm Road that was all woods.

And they clear cut that right at the time I was getting my loan and somebody put me in touch with the person who was building it and then we just signed our leases.

Nice. so,

so that store is in its original location?

It is.

is. Wow.

In that shopping center. Java Jive is original. They've had more owners, but original J and F Jamele has been there the whole time. Same owners. Very nice. So it's been a, you know, the, I feel like Carrie, this, this area, the people are so loyal. They're so amazing.

They love small businesses. They're not just shopping at the big box stores cuz they know, you know, small businesses. That's who is supporting your little league and all your schools and. And so Sure. It's been

Its location is on the edge of Lochmere neighborhood, which is a huge neighborhood and, and Carrie.

So it's like you have the walkability factor for, you know, the people that live in the neighborhood as well. So, You started 2002.

2002.

Did you always have the clothing side of the store

So actually I wanted to own a gift store. I never thought I would own a clothing store. And to be honest, the type of clothes that we sell that really wasn't a thing back in 2002. I mean, we had fax machines and hardly anyone had a website or an email address back then, you know, so I wanted a gift store.

So originally like you've shopped in the store, it kind of looks like two stores. It

It does, yeah.

It's because originally it was the, when you walked in from like the Lock Me Drive side, you know, from like the front park parking lot about it's like 2000 square feet. And then for 10 years it was just the gift store.

There was a spa located where the clothing is now, and they closed right at. My 10 year anniversary and then I opened the the close, it was 2011, so it was September of 2011. So almost 10. 10 years.

You get one sort of process in place. You really know what you're doing. You've got your client base, you've got your cash flow, everything's rolling along, and then you're like, you can sort of branch out into something else.

Yeah. And our customers had been asking for clothes for, for several years before this, and we just didn't have the space. And so it was just an awesome opportunity. And then since we did have the customer base, it was kind of like we said, Hey, we're open. And it was a success from the beginning, so I was grateful for that.

Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome.

So when you break into clothing, and I, I know I, it's not that I don't want to talk about the The gift store because I'm sure that's awesome too. But since we're sort of fashion oriented, is it?

It is. No it isn't. This is my favorite gift store as well. Okay. I'm not a stalker, I swear. I just really like your store.

Well I know some of your clothing are featured in our, up in our new issue of the magazine spring fashion issue.

When you got into clothing, was there a learning curve there in terms of like figuring out, or were you a fashionista to begin with or how does that

For sure. There was a learning curve. First of all, the way you buy gifts and the way you buy clothes are completely different. Gifts you buy, you can buy for a longer sales cycle. Clothes are much shorter because you buy for that season and you have to buy. Further, like in advance, I guess. So you're getting the pieces and it's just a, the whole, just the, the cycle of the clothes being made and sent to you is a whole different ballgame as well.

But just the way my personality is, if I'm like, I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do all the research, I'm gonna learn. Learn about body types, what looks good on people, why it looks good on people how to put an outfit together. It didn't come naturally to me. I mean, we have several stylists in our store that are amazing.

They come in, they have the same pieces I do, and I'm like, oh my gosh, it looks so great on you. And how do you know you put that together? And that's why I'm always looking at the way people put their outfits together. Cause I'm like, oh, I love how you did that. I know all the basics. I know the science behind why you should be wearing something the right way or not.

Right. That's how my brain works. Even when you go to market or we go to LA or, you know, I'm like, how are people wearing things and how can I bring that back to our area?

How far in advance do you buy for a season?

What my store is is more like fast fashion.

So it's more, you know, it comes in, it comes out. We definitely have pieces that you'll have for years, but it's like what's trendy right now. So I went to market in

January

and the clothes will come January through July-ish.

How many times a year do you go to market and where is market?

At least three times a year, usually right at the beginning of January, right at the beginning of August. Just about a month ago, my buyer and I we. We're very grateful. It was like a great problem to have, but it was definitely a problem.

We ran out of clothes. Like everything we bought at Market was sold. It was sold. It was sold. And we, so we had to, which was awesome. But we had to fly to LA cuz in LA there's markets there that you can like get this stuff and bring it back with you. So

oh, you don't have to wait

don't have to wait for it to come. So we went and just bought huge suitcases and brought it back with us.

bought. Okay.

Okay. So

we go to Atlanta, Vegas. We just went to Dallas for the first time. It, it kind of just depends on what works with our schedule. When do we need things? They're about to do it. They know the women though because they, they're about, they just started in Nashville market and you know, Nashville is like the New Vegas, I go there.

Yeah.

Yep. So

, when you walk into , the market, you're walking in the building and I, I can just feel like it's like a mecca. Oh,

Oh, listen, I'd, I'd be in trouble. I would be in trouble. But how do you walk by and, and visualize? Yes.

This, no, not this, especially when you're picturing the, the Carrie woman, the Apex woman, Fuquay Raleigh, you know, not necessarily the LA type of style. How do you, how do you see it?

To be successful at anything, right? You need to know who your customers are . For the first like 10, 12 years, I was in the store all the time. So I would talk to people, I knew what they wanted even for gifts.

And then with clothes, I was in the store at the beginning after Covid. And when we opened the second store our online, our live selling became really popular and I was able to like actually speak with people. You know, they're not speak, they're typing, but they're telling me what they like. And of course they're voting with their dollars as well.

What are. What are they wanting? What are they wanting more of? We even send out surveys to say, Hey, what is it that you, what do you want right now? So we have a plan when we go to market. I know exactly, we know about like how many pairs of jeans, how many shirts, how many, like what categories sell the best, and then w.

What we're wanting to match, like if we bought a bunch of pants, what tops go with that or what's the color of this season? Like you said, you love green. I have one green today, green's color of the season, green lavender. So we knew we needed to buy a bunch of that. And it's the south. We love pink.

I love pink. We sell a ton of pink at swagger. There's 10 floors of hundreds of booths in each floor, and there's like 4,000 black tops. Which one do you buy?

Can I move in there? It sounds like there might be room

for to set up

I don't think anyone would notice you sleeping in

Exactly. Yeah.

I think it is harder than it seems cuz you know, it's like there are 4,000. It's like, which one do you want? And of course we buy flops, you know, I'll be like, this is it and it is not it, you know, I'm like,

I wanted to ask you that. Have you, how is it often that you buy something and think, oh, this is gonna be a huge seller, and then you, it ends up on the sale rack?

I've been lucky that it hasn't been a ton of times, but yes, of course it does.

Yeah.

And then things that we don't think are gonna be good at all are like blowing out and we're like trying to get more in different colors, that kind of thing.

It seems like the fashion industry starting in places like Milan and stuff and high fashion and all this is sort of trying to tell everybody what to wear.

But then you're trying to listen to your customers and understand what they wear and then you gotta balance those two things. Cuz when you go to the, when you go to the market, you're seeing what everybody's actually made. Whether or not it's what your customers wanna wear. So that seems like an interesting balancing act

that, and you know, once you've been a couple times, cuz we're always trying to find new vendors, but we do know what vendors work for our customers.

And they fit differently too. Like you have a lot of z z supply, is that right? And that might have a different fit than another vendor or brand that you sell. So,

Correct.

At least for my body anyway. I know that there, you know, there's certain genes that fit well and there's certain that there's no point in me trying on,

We carry over a hundred brands just in swagger, that always, you know, you go into a store and they say, you know, were you looking for anything special?

And most people, they're like, Nope. But really, if you are, talk to the people who work in any boutique in the area, they know what they have and they know how the. Fit. Right. You know, because in one brand I might be in a small and another brand, I might be in a large, and women don't like that. But it's really, you gotta think past the number.

Just be

Cut the tag out if you have to. If you have to. Yes.

Where what feels good.

That's one thing that I, I wanted to talk to you about is the Facebook Lives that you do. I don't know. I wanna know when that started because I know I started really seeing.

Through Covid. Mandy goes on Facebook, is it once a week or twice a

so almost daily. And we have an app that we go live on

stop following that because it does get dangerous. So maybe I only pay attention to once a week now, whereas I used to watch it every day.

So we actually started live selling pre Covid. Okay. Which was very fortunate for us about two years before that.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. I love podcasts. I, if I'm in my car, if I'm on a walk, my. My daughter, I have an 11 year old daughter. She also, we love True Crime, so she's like into the True Crime podcast. But, so I'm always listening to podcasts, business podcast, marketing, podcasts. And there was a podcast that was talking about comment sold, which is what I use as my platform.

And I was like, I said to my husband, this is brilliant. Because as the, as I've grown as my store has gotten older, our customers have as well, and they went from having toddlers to having kids that were at soccer games and they just couldn't come in as much. You know the kids were at soccer or football and they weren't

always busy.

They

were

always busy. And I was like, what can we do? And that is when I was like, let's just give this a try. And it was about two years before Covid, which was very fortunate for us because when the whole world shut down

I think that was a Saturday, Monday morning.

We started with lives immediately. We never closed. We kept selling from day one. So then at that time we went, we were live four days a week and then we did all of our shipping on Friday. Friday. But really we did a lot of delivery. So my employees, my husband and I, we went all over the triangle cuz it was saving on shipping.

Okay. And, and it was just

so back before gas

So Explain, explain the Facebook Live thing. You're a, this is a live sales

It is. So we do it through Facebook and through an app and just on the back end, I say I'm going live, and I don't know how it works through Facebook, but it goes live on Facebook. It goes live on our app, and I am just talking for like 30 minutes.

We have new arrivals and I'm like, Hey guys, this is what we have today. We might be doing a color palette or all leather pants, who knows what we're doing, right.

for example, she'll, she'll go on and say these dresses are perfect for Mother's Day or graduation day, which is act, actually falls on Mother's Day.

So this almost sounds like a, like a streaming version of qvc? A little bit. I mean, it's a

It is exactly like

yeah,

Yeah. Very much. Okay. But one thing I appreciate that, that Mandy does is she will say, I am wearing. This top and a size medium. Generally, I wear a size small or, you know, or vice versa. Luckily I usually wear Mandy's size, so if she says I'm in a medium, I'll say, well, it, it is loose on her, so maybe it'll fit me.

Okay. All, all right. All right. I'll do the medium too. So, but she's, she's very open in what size she's wearing versus you. Is it Alana that comes on as well? Elena? Yeah. Okay. She comes on as well, and she's very tall.

five 10 and Yep.

very statues, so, you know, she's gonna wear a different size than, than the shorter ones.

Yeah. So I, I like that part and because when I shop online, I feel like I. I have to return it quite often because I don't get the right size. But with swagger I mean, at least it's close by too. If I need to return it, I can, but generally I'd never, I don't think I've ever had to return something at swagger because I know that they're not gonna lead me astray with what size and how the item fits.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, you know, it's interesting. I've been doing a lot of, I've been doing some research recently unrelated to this podcast on high-end retail and retail trends.

One of the things they're talking about is coming outta covid. Free shipping became this absolute necessary thing, but then people were ordering three or four sizes cuz they didn't know what size they wanted and then the return shipping. And so the costs that were hitting the retailer were really hard, but it was the only way to stay competitive.

right? Yep. I think shipping is a hidden cost that nobody thinks about for like small businesses.

That's why, like what Melissa was saying, I ha I try on every single piece of clothing that we sell, I take notes, I see how it fits. I tell people. Go down, stay in your normal size. Maybe if you. You know where your problem areas, I'll say, okay, this is tight here. Which we tried to avoid that because yes, I mean, people were right.

They didn't know peop A lot of people, when we first started selling live or online, people had never bought online before. Wow. I mean, you know, you think about like my mom, 70 she had, she was like, I'm not. I don't, I don't buy things alone except for Amazon, right? Mm-hmm. But they, she was like, I'm not gonna buy clothes.

You know, only teenagers can do that cuz it's just a different body type. And we have customers all ages. So I knew when we started, I was like, okay, I have to be very specific. And then say, Hey, we're, you can wear this three different ways by,

you know,

to avoid that.

I mean, we do still have that and I get it. But it is, it became a huge problem. Yeah. And if

down on it, even 10, 15, 20%, I mean, that's a huge savings.

A lot of retailers did have to go to even charging like a $5 fee. We charged 7 95. Right. At a certain dollar amount, it's free.

But as that was happening, u p s, FedEx, u s ps, all the prices were going higher

Yeah.

as coming into swagger and going out.

right? Mm-hmm. Right.

But with the Facebook Lives, you also, and I think this one did start during Covid, you always.

Either a twice a year or seasonal fashion show out in the courtyard at Lochmere Pavilion. And during Covid you started doing online fashion shows, but you've continued doing that. And at little non fact, Adam, I have walked in one of those

Yes, she

has.

Yes, I

I'm, I have a model, a model

Yes you do. I will sign your autograph later. Thank

She looks beautiful in everything. Did a great job. Didn't trip. It was great.

Oh. That was my biggest worry was tripping. Yes. But now they're all live online. So why did you decide to stick with that?

Well, one, right about that time when we opened the second store, people were like, well, why aren't you doing one at both

Uh, yeah.

So that was a bit of an issue,

that location is not really,

it doesn't work for that. Yeah, yeah. Smaller store. And there's no like Courtyard area Lock Me just worked for that.

Yeah. Right. So Covid and then we couldn't do it. With all the people. And then to be honest, people were so used to buying live and like the weather. I mean, you have no many how many times. I was like, praying, please, dear Lord. You know, it would've been a beautiful week. And then there was gonna be a thunderstorm just during the hours of what our fashion show

yes, Of

Of course. To be honest, another hidden. Hidden cost. We would have hundreds of pieces. We had to steam all that. We had to roll it out. Our store's not that big. We only had two dressing rooms here. You buy it, ship it to yourself, try it on comfort of your own home.

Whatever you don't like.

and steam your own dress.

Yeah. Looking

Adam like, you know what I'm talking about,

avoid steaming my dresses. Yeah.

We very briefly touched on the, the whole idea of fast fashion fashion is cyclical. And you, you say, you know, keep it in your closet. You never know when it'll come back in style and, and vintage fashion. And let's, let's kind of touch on that and some, maybe some fashion that you're, Coming up. Yeah. That you know, you've seen before.

Right.

You

know, it's kind of funny. Everyone's like, oh, keep it in your closet. Now, there is something to be said about vintage.

I've got some of my mom's pieces that are beautiful, but you know, it could have been fashionable, like what we wore in the eighties, the nineties. They're wearing that again now, but in a different way. So it's all about how you st It's a different cut, how you style it. So what we're seeing now, we're definitely seeing more flares.

The seventies been popular nineties, you know, nineties. What we thought was grunge. And, and we're seeing, I don't necessarily, it's not really grunge, but they think it's, I said they, they, the kids. The kids. The kids these days. The

it's grungy for them.

Fashion is cyclical for sure,

but

it's all about how you style it.

The second

cyclical.

Right. So it's not, it's not an, it's not a dead repeat.

people. It

is not,

yeah. Otherwise it's Halloween.

Correct. Very, very

good.

Yes. Well, I know one one thing I do not want to come back and I think it might be, it's the low, low rise

dear Lord.

think mom, I keep

seeing mom jeans coming back.

I think that's a

all about the mom, Jean.

eighties Mom jeans are

are the higher, the

Is that not

thing now?

You know, there's actually, so when we buy jeans, we're like skinny jeans, straight jeans. And there is a mom gene. Yes.

And I

do like the fit on that. Yes I do.

like, Hey, the higher the waist, the closer to God.

it went from an SNL skit to real life. And I'm here for

it. Yes, I'm here for it.

I'm not saying it looks good on me, but it feels good on me.

I do hope that the, the low-rise jeans do not come

I, I saw one in Target and I thought, no.

No.

don't do this to

I am, I'm forbidding this from happening. Don't even look over there. Absolutely. Is there anything else that you hope does not come back?

Oh, there's probably a lot, a long laundry list of that.

I mean,

You gonna have, you're gonna have to pre No, but you're gonna have to preface that question cuz that's either, does she personally not want it to come back or does she just not want it to come back?

Cuz it's a bad idea.

Right? Like it didn't look good on me. Right. And I'm like,

I don't want it to come back,

don't want it to come back,

Yeah.

So what pieces do you believe every woman should have in her closet? Even if you have to spend a little bit more on it, like an investment piece. What, what would you say are maybe that your top three that everybody should have?

Number

one, a great pair of jeans. So I feel like you can wear jeans if you're running errands.

You can wear jeans on a date. You could, depending on what you pair it with, I, you could wear it to a business meeting, a pair of jeans that you feel great.

Right.

So that you're comfortable in that. You want number one for sure. And that could be any style, just what you feel great in your body, any.

That's what I said, number one.

Number two, if you listen to any swagger lives or your customer swagger, you know, I'm obsessed with white shirts. I love them. I probably own about a hundred of them. But I definitely have favorites. But I think that if you, you have on your jeans, you have on your white top, you love, you could put different necklaces with the earrings, different shoes.

Great white top. And then to be honest, I love a blazer. I feel like you can wear a blazer with a graphic tee if you wanted to. You could wear with your favorite white top. You could dress it up, dress it down. When ex when we were in Barcelona, everyone had on blazers with their dresses. It was their, their jean jacket.

And I loved Beyonce,

I know jean jacket. Interesting. Yeah.

And I always feel like, you know, you're like girl boss. When you're wearing you're wearing your blazer, it makes you different. It does, you feel confident and I mean,

more put

put together. Yeah.

No matter what look you're going for, you can do that. And those are my top three great pair of shoes. I love shoes. Great pair of sneakers. I think sneakers are so in right now. I hope that never goes away. That's a trend that never goes away

Me too. I don't even care if it goes away.

I'm still here for the sneakers

Thank you.

dresses, with jeans, with anything. Yes.

And I mean, we work on concrete floors for eight hours a day. We need the sneakers. I remember pre Snickers, I'm like, how did we even get through that?

Yeah, I used

to, I used to wear high heels to work every day, and the older ladies that I would work with would say, just wait one day.

You're not gonna be able to do that. I'm like, yeah, I'll show you. Well, guess what? I did not show them. I still, I, I need my sneakers because I cannot wear high heels for very long. So you mentioned Barcelona and it sounds like your family likes to travel as much as possible. Is there somewhere in the world that you go and you just think, wow, the fashion is superb here, or very unique at a, in a certain city or country?

I still haven't been to Asia, so I don't know what it is like there. We lived in, I think it was about the same time you do, we lived in Switzerland about the same time you were in

did you? Okay.

And I love that. I love watching the fashion there. We did a lot of traveling.

I just love people watching and seeing what, how the fashion works in that city and how just the vibe of the city. Yeah. I love Paris. I love the way that they, Parisian women just put things

love, Yeah. Well and I think how they present themselves and walk and,

yes, the whole thing,

Their confidence, everything all rolls in together perfectly in Paris. I think you should go to Tokyo.

that's next. That's next on my daughter's list. Well,

it? Okay?

was like, can we go here next? And I was like, sign me

yeah,

I, I wanna go there as well. But for you know, far out unique fashion, I would think

Tokyo. I've got friends over there right now, actually. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And some of the pictures that are coming back are pretty cool.

Yeah, you never know what you're gonna see walking through the streets of Tokyo. You might see a real life Hello kitty. Walking down the street or something with just extreme high end fashion. Yeah.

Well, thank you so much for coming today, Mandy. Thank you guys for happy talking fashion with us.

Yes. And we're excited to see our, our May June issue come out and see some of the swagger pieces in there.

Is a gorgeous looking issue. The photographs are fantastic and beautiful. Yeah, we're, we're super excited. So

worries

thank you very much. Thank you for having me.

All right. Well we're back after our little break here. On our fashion ish, like fashion episode.

I guess I'm gonna call it that. That was a great interview. I really enjoyed talking to her.

her. Yeah, Mandy's great from swagger. Yeah,

she has a lot to say and I, it's nice to meet somebody who's been in the business for so long and having so much success with it. And we're excited cuz we have another boutique owner with us for the second half of the show who is having equal success and is kind of carrying on this kind of interesting family legacy.

So, as I understand it, and I'm gonna do this buildup here for you, but as I understand it, Patricia,

Yes.

Your grandmother? Yes.

Correct?

Yes. Started kind of an online business and named it the Gator Bug because that was sort of a nickname for the grandkids of which you were one of the grandkids. Yes. Right. So fast forward and you get done with college at NC State and start your own boutique with your.

cousin.

Yes, I Yes. Graduated. It was my graduation gift. And Sydnee joined me about two months into the business.

And the other voice you're hearing is Catherine Carter, our guest. welcome,

hi. Hi. Thank you for having

me. Catherine from Gator

Catherine from Gator Buck. And I apologize that was sort of an awkward opening there. But we are excited to have you here and,

it was awkward, yet informative. Because I learned something I did not know that your grandmother started this whole venture.

Can you tell us about that?

Yeah, actually it started with my grandmother and my mother, so, Sydney's aunt, and they started kind of just this home accessories.

It was never clothing. And they ran it for several years. They did a lot of junior league shows got very close to opening their own storefront. It had just. Been run online for a long time and they decided to close it as I was skipping into high school. And Sydney decided to open it again and took it in a different direction.

Was on Etsy and did a lot of customizations, personalizations, monogramming, and also shut that down when her little boy went to kindergarten. And upon my graduation, this was, my dad kind of gifted me this. I thought I would buy first in New York City and really get. Feet in the door and life had other plans.

So yeah. There you go. Yes.

So what did you study at NC State? Were you in the textile? Okay.

Yes. My concentration was in brand management and marketing.

Okay. All right. Nice. Okay, so you're studying at, you graduate.

In what way? It sounds to me if the company was already closed, how did he gift it? Here's a closed company for you, darling, all the work to get it back to snuff.

I think that was their plan all along. I had, my dad had gifted me. You know, a certain dollar amount and said, you know, we think that you, based on doing an internship the year prior, really know what you're doing. Go forth and run with it.

And so I did and wanted to take it in a different direction. I did not want it to be named the Gator Bug. And our grandmother had passed right around the time I graduated. So Thank you. Thank you. So this was really my dad telling me, you don't have an option. You're naming it the Gator, here it is.

Okay. Taking this defunct clothes. Pull it back up to being an open it.

a unique name too. I it's unlike anything else

Yeah.

Out there that I've heard of.

Now, was Sydney always a partner in this From the beginning. And your mother's involved too, right? Yes.

and my mother is not as much anymore.

Okay. She kind of got us up and going and she headed out. She's ready to enjoy retirement. So this is Syd and I, Sydnee has joined me. All along the way. When my grandmother and mother were running it, Sydney was very involved. She was a lot older than I was at the time. So being in high school, she definitely had a knack for this.

And each step of the way, she's always been there. I don't think that Gator bug would function without Sydney Actually

I just love this whole family business kind construct. I think that's really great. Now is

either works or it doesn't work. I

mean,

yeah.

Well, let's

are

It's nice to hear everybody gets along.

yes.

Yay. We have our

for the most part anyway. What year are we talking? When did this all come

Absolutely. We are about to go into year five.

All

okay.

Now year five and you've just opened a second big store.

Our Third.

Because you have one at the beach, right?

Okay. I thought I was making that up in my mind. I thought,

it Atlantic Beach? Beach, okay.

And the new one's in Carey at Def on

around the corner.

Oh my god. That's an amazing location. Yeah.

location is also amazing. It's it's over near Wegmans and Raleigh.

Right, okay. Yeah.

is also a new de pretty new development.

yes.

So awesome.

yeah.

You're hitting the up, up and coming shopping centers

here.

We are, we did not think we would make a name for ourselves doing that, but we have, and it's been great. Cause as they grow, we grow and Nice to have that synchrony.

Yeah.

Okay.

Fenton,

that store has only been open, what, a couple

Yeah,

a couple months. Yeah.

Well, I was over there recently and the foot traffic in the evening.

was

Unbelievable. And it was like a Thursday night or something like, it wasn't even like a, maybe it was a Friday, but I don't even think it was a Friday night. So I was impressed and I thought for those, for the retailers there this bodes well for

good restaurants are anchoring it, but now you have sports and social, which is bringing in a whole different level of both in age and amount of clientele that's

number of people. Yeah,

absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yeah. There's no parking in the main street anymore. You gotta go to the deck,

no. Yes. Luckily

is a good thing.

A good thing.

So are you guys gonna keep late hours to kind of address that sort of evening traffic or, I mean

yes. So, We're definitely open later on the weekends. I think Fenton initially would like to get to that nine o'clock timeframe.

So everyone's kind of falling in that 8:00 PM slot right now. So we do that Thursday through Saturday. And we are obviously very open to opening for longer hours. I think as we see the foot traffic, like you're mentioning Grow and continue to grow. I think we'll have to do that

now. Has any of that been hindered by,= lack of employees for so many stories. Has that been anything that's affected your business?

yeah, definitely. We've kind of been through the ringer of the past, I would say eight to 10 months. Right around the holidays obviously you see, you know, employment kind of peak and we've luckily been able to attain quite a few of our girls from that.

But we definitely do. There are certain stores of ours that, you know, we could have that extra person two, and we hear about our friends with boutique say the same thing, so yeah,

it's really universal at this point. So since this is our fashion episode, We've gotta ask the key questions. What's in, what's out,

Absolutely.

what's what colors are coming in for the summer, for the late spring and summer?

What are you seeing as far as what's gonna, what we need to be wearing?

Absolutely. You're seeing a lot of pops of color cobalt's, the color of the year. It'll stay that way until the end of the year.

We've been, we see it everywhere. I'm starting to see fallen winter trends and it's still going in that direction.

of my favorite colors, so I'm fine with

mine too? it. So I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled.

And today you're wearing pastel colors. Is that also

pastels are coming when you think of jewel tones, you think of recession and I know that.

Term has been tossed around quite few times the past couple of months, but we don't see that fashion is a great way to kind of predict where the economy is in a way. Which I know interesting is kind of bizarre to think about, but you see certain colors mimic certain economic times we're going through and we are not seeing a lot of jewel tones, which is a good thing.

So we're seeing a lot of pops of pastels, like you mentioned, Melissa and Cobalts and pinks. The seventies. Come back much to my mother's happiness. And so,

talking to

about the cyclical nature of fashion and how things come back and vintage styles and how certain looks might come back, but styled differently. Yes. So what are you seeing that's kind of leaning vintage?

You've

We've seen a lot of the wide leg flare

Oh yeah. That are very hot right now. And a lot of the nineties trends are here too. You know, the mini bags, the crop tops the

Rock band t-shirts. I am here for that.

have a ton of those.

Yes. Good. We are fans of those at the gator bugs, so

I've been seeing a lot of those. And a lot of expensive ones too. I wish I had saved my mom's

rock band you didn't buy at the concert, but still cost a lot of money.

Absolutely. I mean,

okay.

my daughter has a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. No, A Nirvana. Oh my gosh. She has her Nirvana t-shirt and I was like, Hey so who's Nirvana?

And

like I mean, it has something to do with music. And I was, I just

face palm. So these young girls are wearing Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith and all these different bands and I'm like, yeah, tell me a little bit about them.

Exactly. exactly.

If you're gonna wear that t-shirt, you're gonna listen to it in my car.

Absolutely.

you go. I like that role.

I know. So one of the things we were talking about earlier is kind of the process of going to these markets to buy ahead.

You do, you go to a bunch of markets every year, are you, is this a constant thing? A couple times a year constant?

Yeah.

They are typically go on quarterly and we'll sydnee and I'll try to hit one or two of those per quarter can. So really Atlanta is our stopping ground. It's so quick and accessible to get to, but.

yeah,

We love Miami. We carry some swimwear, so that's a great market for that.

We do a few of the runway shows there when we're down there. New York's another big market for us as well as Vegas.

So you walk into market, how do you choose what you are going to order or bring back with you?

Absolutely. That has been a process that is, is ever evolving and just streamlines, you know, I feel like year after year for us, it's something different.

But we go off of a spreadsheet, we pull brands that we've. Carried in the past brands that we, you know, may wanna move away from and pull in new things. And we know we have an X amount of budget to spend on that, for that store, and kind of just goes off from there. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of

yeah, I guess

lot of crunching.

think that's where your education comes in too.

You've studied all this in the marketing that goes behind the fashion industry as well. So when you're walking into market, someone like myself, I would walk in and just be big-eyed and wanna grab one of everything, whereas you understand the business side of it more.

Well now that does happen, but,

yeah.

Sydnee and I are great, ying and yang. She kind of pulls me back down and I do the same. She might get passionate about something and, you know, wants to pull an X amount of it and I'm like, well we only have, you know, X amount of square footage in our stores Yes. And X

of money in our budget.

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. But that is definitely, yeah

Now do you, with three stores, do you find sometimes you'll buy something and it doesn't do well at one store, but does great at another and so you end up moving it all from one store to another or back and forth or All the time. the

the time,

yes.

I feel like we know a little bit more now. Now we know our niche markets in each of those stores, what they're looking for.

you have different audience for each store?

We really do. We really do. I would say right now we're kind of learning that about our Carrie and Raleigh store. You know, they're so close in proximity, it's so different with customer and Interesting. Yeah.

would think that would be the case for the Atlantic Beach store, but not necessarily. Raleigh versus Carrie,

would

You would think That's been a very eye-opening and interesting for us to figure out as.

interesting for,

would you say is the difference with Raleigh and Carrie, your customers that come in and what they're looking for?

I feel like Carrie is more, we get a lot of the college girls, which we weren't expecting.

Oh, I would think it would be opposite. Okay.

Yeah. You would. Yeah. So that has been quite eye-opening.

day tripping it to Carrie.

They all well

are,

they're

well. It could be that, that AVA Rooftop and the social and PBR R, you know, that they are, it is bringing in the younger college age people For sure.

Well, and if, you know, if you think about the places that they like to hang out in Raleigh, there's not a lot of retail.

I mean, downtown Raleigh, which is the center all your entertainment is pretty light on retail. Yeah. So I can see where Fenton presents a really nice opportunity

Well, and Fenton has the apartments there as well, so maybe the people that are living there are more, you know, the younger,

has anybody moved in yet more hip?

think they haven't

move in. Yes. There's a little hiccup with construction. I think

So much was going on that they stalled it, but yeah, now they're starting to move in.

Are you gonna,

picture recently that I could tell, oh, people are actually living there and it's not just a stage picture.

yes. Are

are you gonna offer them store credit?

Yes, absolutely.

They just keep a rolling tab. Yeah.

Adam,

Like the good days. Yeah. Just write your name on

Come on down you need something. Yeah,

Yeah,

I can see somebody getting up in the morning and being like, ah, I just don't have the right top. Oh, I'll just run downstairs. Yeah.

I didn't think about that.

That is so convenient and nice.

Yes. Hey, I'm going over to PBR R. You got anything that'll, know, any Assless chaps in we can wear? Oh, no. Oh, Adam, I've got

stories. you

know, I realized after you said that, and I'm sorry we're getting off topic, but I needed to call you out on this. All chaps are ask.

as,

you know what?

You keep calling them Assless Chaps. But assless. It's just what you're wearing underneath

up in my

it's what you're wearing underneath.

Yeah. Very good point. Changes the, and they do have like, Full butt underwear up under it. Okay, we're gonna get into it now. Yeah, because I told my daughter after we went to vbr, I was like, oh my gosh, you would not believe what they were wearing.

You know, this, these chaps, I'm not gonna call 'em assless now. How many times can I say assless in like one episode? But,

six so far.

showed,

I should,

but I

daughter and she was like, mom, you realize that some of my dance costumes are worse than that? I was like, I guess you're right, they are covering everything.

just not what you expect to see and carry, for

right.

Exactly. Yes.

yes

All right. Let's get away from the ASLA chap talk. Okay. So you mentioned that you sometimes go to fashion shows. Have you ever been to a fashion show and seen somebody that you recognize, like a celebrity or anything like?

that? Oh yeah. We give us

us the

absolutely. We are just now starting to be invited to the ones in New York. That is definitely a

have hit the peak and, you know, you have to be in business for x amount of years before they wanna, , bring you on in.

So we'll start doing those in the fall. But we've been to Miami, like I mentioned, and yeah, we definitely have seen not a big fan, but some of the real house. Of Miami are at a lot of these shows, especially the swimwear. We've seen a lot of rappers at some of these that we've seen Pit bull did not know who that was at first.

saw

for pit bull, believe it or not.

Listen, I, my

don't know why. Husband

looks just like pit bull and no matter how many times I see him, I still star at him like I am looking and talking to the pit bull. I'll show you a picture later, Adam, but I feel like I've met pit

Tiffany

one of best friends.

That's

funny.

very

So, so I'm not to get off celebrities, if you've got more, we want to hear about 'em, but New York, You gotta get invited.

Yes.

So,

oh, so we can't just show

Yeah. So, on the door, what is the expectation that you're then gonna spend?

I mean, is there some sort of quick pro quo like

Yeah,

It's kind of like the game, the system, you know, you've written X amount with them before and you carry the line and you represent it well in the stores. They are more apt to wanting you to come to that show and continue to foster that business with you for years to come And.

I've never thought about the business side of fashion

Yeah,

kind of thought you could just, you know, walk in,

yeah. Well we talked to Erica DeLonge a few months ago and she goes to a lot of red carpets and stuff and she, I asked her, you know, what's the trick about getting to these red carpets?

And sometimes she just shows up and hopes for the best. You know, kind of assumed that's the case for

interestingly, my sister was in fashion years and years ago, and I remember her taking my parents to a fashion, she got them in, which a big deal cuz she worked for Mesino, I think,

Yeah.

And and it was , it was a big production, right. But but I never thought about how everybody else. It goes. She was an employee so she got to go.

go.

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know? No, that's been a very interesting to see. Yeah. You you can't show up like we thought we had.

so then do you have to be kind of like Carrie Bradshaw about it and like out, out style?

Everybody in the room?

feel like you have to.

yeah. So what's your go-to fashion show outfit? Do you have one planned out already?

No, I don't. And I should because I'm a planner. I like to plan ahead. I

think this would take some work,

you know?

It does. I like to follow the approach of more is better. So just load it on, pilot on, I'm sure that's not everyone else's tip for trick, but yeah, no need to start looking at that. Adam. I need to plan it out.

I think I'm giving you something to do

You are. I like that.

So, My favorite shows back in the day, and when I say back in the day, I feel like it was like maybe early two thousands ish, it was kind of around the time of America's Next Top model, Tyra Banks.

It was a show called what Not To Wear. So this might predate you, you're younger, but it was maybe on. I think tlc,

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

But it was with two hosts, a male and a female. Stacy, London and Clinton Kelly.

People

write in and nominate. So let's say example, I'm gonna send in a nomination, say my coworker Adam is just.

Really still dressing like he's in the 1970s. I need you guys to come give him a makeover. Oh, so they would come and crash your day and they would bring you up to New York and you would go shopping for what they think would fit your body style, your lifestyle, everything, , get you up to date.

Yeah. So I picture boutiques having to have that element. In, in, in how you address certain customers. So you might have people come in and say, I just don't know what looks good on me. I don't know what to do. I want to look like I'm in the 2000 twenties now and not in the 1980s. How do you guys handle that when you have people come in asking for fashion advice, styling tips, things like that?

Those are my favorite customers cuz they're more open to trying anything that we recommend. And so that's always a fun part. We always welcome to customers bringing in pieces from their closet that we might be able to add to if it's just one or two things.

So that's always fun too. And we customers. They don't care. They wanna wear it. And you could be as gentle and tell them, you know, let's look at this, and they're gonna walk out in it. And that's They're determined.

When it comes to your staff do they need a lot of training in terms of how to, I mean, are you providing them with kind of the kind of person personal skills necessary to sort of have those

Absolutely. I know all stores are probably different, but we make it about a month long training, so anywhere from merchandising how a store should be set and look for customers coming in to how to handle customer interactions and the various types of interactions that you're gonna get.

So by the time that they are ready to work one-on-one with the customer or be alone in the store, they are confident and sure themselves. Absolutely. Yeah.

Are there certain pieces of fashion that you feel like never go out of style?

That's like a question.

Like, for example,

no. Ask her the same question you asked.

Mandy

Which one?

The three pieces of the three pieces of clothing

Oh yeah, we, the, well, it's kind of separate, Adam.

Okay. Sorry.

I thought that's

you step off my questions, dude, listen, we'll get to that in just a minute. But the reason for my questioning is I've had the same jean jacket that, and I wear the hell out of that jean jacket. In my closet since probably 1999 and I put it on and my husband just kind of rolls his eyes like, oh God, that again.

But I feel like it has never gone out of style. I can throw it o on over a dress. I can wear it with black pants. Can you think of anything else that's like the jean jacket?

also carry a lot of denims, so jean jackets are big.

you very much. That just proves my point. Husband of

mine.

you, you knew that. I can tell you set up the question to get the answer you wanted.

Exactly.

Thank

you very much. Yes.

So it does not go outta style.

anything else that's like that, that think is kind of,

I would say just the staple pieces are ones that are never gonna go outta style.

So a pair of black slacks. Just a very nice black, little black dress. Denim.

one. A little black dress.

absolutely. Denim is a big one both in jeans, but also denim jackets that we see are produced year after year.

Okay, so now we will get question,

the vest. The vest.

No, no denim

no denim vests. Well,

you know, I kind of feel like I saw a denim vest somewhere in years.

Yeah.

And was there a mullet attached to the vest?

or should be anyway. Or a rat tail or something. But no, I think people do occasionally throw in a denim vest over a dress or something. Right?

I not,

they

are

very big this season.

Oh,

really? I can't get down with that,

Okay. So you're not gonna really

you're

cameras

We're all on same here,

New,

we will see it somewhere, just not in the

You will see it just not with us.

best place. Okay. Okay. Good. Well, good that I'm not gonna see it in your store, but, you know, I don't hate it. I, it really it depends on how you style it. It's not for me, but if it's on, in the right on top of the right dress or the right person, really, I mean, I would look like I'm fresh off the farm.

This is one of the things I find so interesting about fashion, right? Is fashion.

It only works if it works for you, kind of thing. Right. So, so something can be absolutely stunning on a, you know, a pencil thin model in a, on a runway. And no one else is gonna look good in that unless it's changed styled and you know, taken in a different direction.

And I think maybe a lot of people don't necessarily realize that, how important that.

You are absolutely right. You just hit the nail on the head there. We do see a lot of that with customers. , we'll pull in pieces knowing that it's only gonna fit for, you know, above five eight, , five 10 range. And

yeah. Yeah. Keeping

in mind when a customer that's not that high, it wants to pull it, you know, and trying to find an alternative, .

Yeah.

for small

yeah. There's so many different body

Yes.

yeah I'm sure it is hard to buy for all the different body types and. Lead the right person to the right piece that would fit their height, their shape, their everything. And age too. I mean, I feel like there's a lot of fashion these days and I'm like, no, I'm, I am too old for this.

Well, isn't there? I thought I just saw a piece in like a, like New York magazine or something about go out dresses for women over a certain age or something. And it, and when I looked through the pictures, it was much , Younger looking than I had anticipated. And this was all based on what celebrities are wearing and things.

I don't think a lot of 50, 60 year old women are gonna be wearing those outfits anytime soon. Exactly.

Exactly. Yeah.

So I feel like it was aspirational.

Maybe

More college age

girl.

But they were trying to sell it as like, oh, you can wear these too. And I'm like, well, okay, well, you know,

and we do have a few of those ladies that are very confident and they look great in it too.

They look absolutely phenomenal. And they're embrace

and they

pull it off. Well,

Okay, so now I will get to my question of are there certain pieces that in your mind, every woman should owned?

Maybe a top three should be in everybody's closet. Absolutely.

Absolutely.

would you think those are?

I would definitely say going back to a black dress, whether it's a cocktail length or a little black dress, I feel like those are always needed, whether it's for, you know, a wedding or a cocktail hour, a business event. Unfortunately, a

you can change it up a different pair of shoes, you're going to a funeral and the versus going out to dinner.

So, absolutely. Absolutely. So I think that is definitely a staple that Bo si and I always recommend all of our customers to have a pair of black slacks too, for something, you know, that you can take from day to night if you need to. A solid pair of jeans. Every woman, every human being needs a solid pair of jeans.

That really can make or break, I feel like what you're gonna wear with and what's in your wardrobe and how you can style.

wardrobe And

Yeah.

so do you guys sell, you, you said you sell a lot of jeans. Okay.

ton of jeans, yes.

yeah. All right. So the shape of Jean for this summer seems to be the flare, like you mentioned.

Yes.

Yes,

But skinny is still in, right?

Oh, yes. Oh yeah. I mean, we don't, I don't think we could ever move away from not pulling in skinny jeans. We definitely have a loyal customer following for those, just as much for the flares. The boyfriend mom jeans are really big too right now. We see a lot of customers wanting those as well.

I like seeing fashion come in and out.

But I do not want to see the low rise jean, come back, make a comeback. And I have a feeling it kind of is a little bit, but as long as y'all

keep

as long as you keep in my high waist, I'm fine. Yes. I don't want those to ever go out.

something for

you can nip and tuck anything into a high waist gene.

don't know if you know this, Adam.

I probably do.

You can at least imagine. Yes.

Nipping and tucking. Yes. Yes.

It sounds like you guys started not long before Covid happened what, two years, a year or two before Covid.

a year?

So how, what did you learn from your covid experience and that you still implement today?

Or how has business changed?

Absolutely. So we were actually in the midst of opening our second store, our Raleigh location.

During Covid we were, it, we opened in May of 2020.

So that in itself was quite a wild ride. We, at the same time were running our Atlantic Beach store and Don't know if you're familiar with the coast of North Carolina, but rules don't apply down And there was no covid. You did not need a mask. They They weren't gonna wear it

where

I should have

have been.

No, it was a fun time for sure. Yeah. But we could not have been

you're on vacation, you're not gonna get covid when you're on vacation. Right? Isn't that

was the mentality.

Okay. Gotcha.

I wish it was the,

wish I believe it, but I am proof positive that,

Oh yeah. Yeah.

So, while that was going on our Atlantic Beach door was busier than we could have ever imagined because everyone was flocking down to the beach.

There nowhere to go, nothing to do. So we were actually selling out of merchandise and I was calling vendors as quick as I could to see if we could get shipments come in. And that was, I know not everyone's experience that was certainly ours in one of our locations,

it speaks to the need for diversification, whether it's multiple stores in multiple locations or like Mandy was talking about doing things online. Whatever it is. If you're diversified, you're able to sort of navigate something like that.

needed. Yeah,

absolutely. That was a big thing for us is really you know, we had e-commerce, but really making it a pinnacle of our business as well and making it almost a third store and that it did, it definitely is. Our online is pretty robust because of covid and still is. We see the need to keep that afloat.

You guys are kind of more on the higher end of fashion. In terms of what you're buying and the cost and the labels. So what made you go that route versus the fast fashion type of route that's less expensive, but therefore kind of more disposable because you don't feel like you have to keep it forever because you didn't spend a fortune on it.

Absolutely. So you're not losing out as much Abso that is, I would say our carry store is actually the one that has a little bit more of the luxe lines, if you will. Raleigh still has some, but it's definitely, we. Try to keep it more affordably priced, so in that fast fashion category. And we do have some of that in carry as well.

Yeah. Okay. We do. Just going through college, I was always big on, you know, I feel like they, they drum into your head what fast fashion is and some of the negativity that comes with it, but I also realize that styles and trends are ever evolving. So you've got to have those price points. It's never gonna go anywhere.

But it's about that.

that

Marriage

of the luxury lines with the lower end. And that is something I'm really passionate about, is bringing in those one of a kind pieces that are gonna be a little bit more expensive.

We, you'll probably keep

it forever too. Talking about the pieces that you should invest in versus n I mean, I say the word, the term throwaway pieces.

No, but you're right, That is a thing.

is a thing,

is. Sure. And so that's what I try to go after when I'm gonna pull in higher lines is what is something that's so spectacular and different that you're gonna want to hold onto versus something that is a T-shirt.

You buy a, you're gonna Get rid of it in a couple months anyways.

Yeah.

I would also imagine too, I mean, knowing your audience or figuring out who you want your audience to be, there's gotta be a buyer. I mean, there obviously is a buyer that. Even if they're only gonna wear something for a short amount of time, they're still so interested in the quality, the name, the brand recognition, you know, all those things that they're gonna spend.

They're willing to spend a lot of money on that, even if it's not necessarily a for life kind of purchase.

And we definitely have those customers too. I will say Covid kind of changed the buying process for them, though people that have a lot of disposable money that maybe before thought, oh, I'll spend $300 on something I'll wear once, aren't necessarily thinking that anymore.

So the knowledge and the logic behind that has changed a little bit, which interesting. Very interesting to see. and it definitely affects us when it comes to buying and, you know, assortment mix that we

Yeah.

Yeah

So that means when you walk into market, you really have to keep that in mind as well. What am I looking at?

That would be something that someone would wanna keep for 10, 20 years. That's a hard way to to budget You gotta think, you know, with your money, how are you gonna break that

up? You absolutely. You really think with the customer in mind, when we go into market, we typically, Sydnee and I both will think of like 10 to 15 customers that we know shop with us routinely what they have requested to see.

And also at the end of the day, we work for the customers, so we have to buy what they want. Despite what we might want,

Mm-hmm.

you're shopping for them the end the Yeah,

That makes.

sense.

You're not gonna always pick the right outfit. Sometimes you're gonna pick a dud, no one wants it.

What happens to those pieces of clothing? Like do you, I mean, we talked about them maybe moving around the stores a little bit, but at some point, where do they end up? Absolutely.

So, sometimes we'll pull in just the craziest stuff that our staff first gets a good laugh as to why we would ever pull this in.

And so that, that's definitely interesting. But we definitely try to reallocate it if it's something. You know, as a more out there piece, but it's not gonna work in Raleigh. We'll move it to Carrie and see how it does. And then also a lot of our brands and vendors are really great too. If it's just not working, they'll take it back and we can swap it for something different.

So it's not technically consignment, but you're not on the hook for everything all the time.

Y yes, absolutely.

And that's part of that relationship building? They're probably gonna do that for you because you use them a lot versus somebody who maybe makes their first purchase with them.

Okay. And then you get the invite or the fashion show

Yeah. Then you rub the elbows and you play the game. Yeah. Okay.

And

And you know,

the, with, as with anything brands would know, oh this person returns everyth.

everything

and

then would stop you Yeah. They, I'm sure they take you more seriously if you don't do it very often.

So you must be real serious. This did not work.

Yeah,

absolutely. They're always welcome to feedback. We have a lot of the brands that we work with hit the road to, so they come and see us, I would say, a couple times a year at the stores and just see kind of what the vibe is in the store, what, when they're in there, what our customers are saying.

And that kind of helps build that relationship well to, yeah,

Great

I love it. I'm wishing you a great spring season. Obviously we are excited to have some of your clothing on mo on our model for the spring fashion shoot.

Yeah, that's right.

Which is our may june issue.

I'm not exactly sure which pieces are in the pictures, but we have it all listed.

Uh, Something

cobalt.

blue.

definitely

cobalt. Yes.

Yes.

Going back the blue Yes. Absolutely.

Yes. For sure.

But,

a look at that and figure out which pieces are Gator Bug for sure.

Yeah. Awesome.

Thank you so much for coming in today, Catherine.

Thanks guys for having me. Thanks and give our best to Cindy and your mom.

I sure will. will. They're very excited to listen. Great.

All right.

Take care.------

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