In with old, out with the new

Wizards online gallery

So it comes as no surprise in times like these, that some fashion types are starting to dream fabulous - and, naturally, stylish - retail concepts to ensure that those who still have cash continue to part with it.

Innovative ideas to clear clients' debt

Take Wizards, for example. The decadent designer emporium with scary prices that started life in the Carlton Centre all those years ago, seriously raised the bar when they opened the Wizards Gallery in Hyde Park, Johannesburg.

But when the recession hit, bringing with it a growing number of unpaid bills by their top customers, Wizards did it again, coming up with a money model that is now another flourishing business.

Owner Annabelle Desfontaines decided to strike a deal with those clients who owed her money: Let me into your wardrobe and give me your gently worn designer gear, she said.

"I'll flog it on the side and with the 'Wizards bucks' you earn through those sales, you can pay your bills and even buy new Wizards gear."

It's a no-brainer.

In fact, the idea has been such a winner that Annabelle has sold her Hyde Park shopping mall setup altogether, with all the rent and headaches that go with it, and Wizards Vintage is now a full-time operation run from her home in Westcliff.

It's still Wizards, the clothes are still edgy designer classics, but there's no doubt she's invented a less intimidating shopping experience and the prices are more affordable. She's even offering her vintage store facility to other recession-hit boutiques that need to sell last season's styles and make place for their new stock.

Talk about making the downturn work for you.

Pop-ups

In Cape Town, another designer boutique has brought the pop-up store phenomenon to the local fashion scene - and it's going to make for a fabulous shopping summer down in the Mother City.

Studio 8 has had a shop in Cavendish Street for years. But when a nearby space became empty, owner Marcelle Savage decided to rent it for the season and move in all her stock that has been sitting tight thanks to the recession.

The Studio 8 summer sale store concept is simple: Designer labels that would have sold for up to R9000 in the main boutique, are now piled high in three bargain basement rooms: the R600 room, the R1200 room or the R1800 room.

And Marcelle says she might not even stop at fashion. Anything's possible in a space such as this and she is thinking of having an art exhibition there too, over the summer, and is open to suggestions from anyone else wanting to make use of her pop-up store.

What a turnaround for the usually utterly precious world of designer fashion.

Get more retailers thinking like this and shopping is going to become distinctly more fun than ever before.

What's more, it's now officially fashionable to be seen to be hunting for a bargain.

If the recession has caused much misery in many people's lives, at least this urgency to find alternative ways of making money works in the customer's favour.

May shopkeepers continue to innovate and experiment, because the biggest winners are going to be you and me.

My only fear is of the overcharging landlord. As independent fashion businesses start to explore other options, we're going to be left with increasingly bland malls filled to fainting with chain stores and precious little of interest in between.

Source: The Times

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