Don't think anyone's posted this yet......new store coming to the Bee Hat Bldg -



From Friday's Biz Journal

http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... bits1.html



Combining retail and consulting, Katy Maak Yelkencioglu, a former model and fashion coordinator, is opening a women's apparel store downtown, Paper Dolls, which specializes in giving women fashion advice. The 1,000-square-foot store, scheduled to open in early April, is located at the corner of North 11th Street and Washington Avenue in the Bee Hat Building. Matt Burghoff, owner and developer of the building, is partnering with Maak on the project. The store will sell about 15 contemporary clothing lines, including Saffron, Spy, Sean John, Gasp and Ocean Drive. Maak will operate the store six days a week and charges about $65 to $75 per hour for the fashion consulting.

It seems like everything is starting to work out according to the retail plan that the Downtown Partnership commissioned a few years ago, which is great to see.



With Lee J. and now Paper Dolls, maybe we'll see some more fashion boutiques springing up in the area soon.

They had a website up last week at: http://www.paperdolls-stl.com

It seems to have been taken offline for now....

Great news.

urbanstlouis wrote:They had a website up last week at: http://www.paperdolls-stl.com

It seems to have been taken offline for now....

Their website is back up but says it will have more info about the store in May.

I've met the owner. Really nice girl. I hope the place is successful.

I just looked at their website again and there are some pictures of some of the clothing. Very nice!

The store will bring a lot of new lines to St.Louis! I have seen a lot of the clothes and they are really chic! The store should be opening a few weeks and i can't wait!

They had it open for the Friday Night Gallery Walk as well. thought it was a great move by them to have their door open as it seemed like this was the busiest I have ever seen the Gallery Walk.

ChrisInDownTown wrote:They had it open for the Friday Night Gallery Walk as well. thought it was a great move by them to have their door open as it seemed like this was the busiest I have ever seen the Gallery Walk.

Someone else told me about that too. Is it the first Friday of every month? Is it along Wash Ave?

Yeah. First Friday of every month. They open all fo the gallery's (and maybe ven some of the boutiques) along Washington. Some fo them have some light food and drinks. I didn't participate this past Friday, but I was out running during it and I have never seen Wash Ave as packed as it was. Giant herds of people moving along those wide pedestrian friendly sidewalks. fantastic. the line for the Gelateria was out the door as well. Check it out though, well worth it, especially if the weather is nice.

The Gallery Walk is mostly on Washington, but there's a few on Locust as well. You can pick up a map of all the participating locations at most of the stops. The crowds really start to pick up around 8:00.

Paperdolls may be closing. They have recently moved and expanded their Kirkwood store and have seen great success in the 'burbs. Please shop the Downtown location so they will reconsider they decision.

Thanks,

JG (The Time Boutique & Salon)

That stinks!!! Looks like another clothing store is about to bit the dust. For some reason small boutiques like this are performing very well downtown. I think part of the problem is such a small selection at a very high price. I went to the loop the other weekend and noticed that they have a lot of stores that offer a variety of selections at a reasonable price. Maybe thats the route some owners on Wash Ave may need to explore.

While the selection and price point could very well be the main factor in closing the downtown location, the spouse of one of the co-owners currently has some legal woes that may also be contributing.



http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor ... ily68.html

Downtown2007 wrote:That stinks!!! Looks like another clothing store is about to bit the dust. For some reason small boutiques like this are performing very well downtown. I think part of the problem is such a small selection at a very high price. I went to the loop the other weekend and noticed that they have a lot of stores that offer a variety of selections at a reasonable price. Maybe thats the route some owners on Wash Ave may need to explore.

I've generally noticed the items at Paperdolls to on average be generally less expensive than average boutique prices around town. Also, considering their small space there isn't really room to add any more selection. If anyone was considering stopping by, I believe they currently have a sale going on (at least I think I saw a sign about it in the window a couple days ago).

^^^I am not sure Paperdolls could have been more reasonably priced. My 12 year has shopped there with birthday money several times. In fact we just discovered a store in the CWE carries the same dress she bought at PD for $50 was $72 in CWE.



I think people need to move past the false perception that if a store is downtown it is expensive. Every store down here carries a wide range of price points.



If you have suggestion concerning a stores selection please talk to the shop owners, I for one am always looking for ways to improve my selection.

shopgirl10 wrote:I think people need to move past the false perception that if a store is downtown it is expensive. Every store down here carries a wide range of price points.

Or you could do some actual marketing to battle that perception other than complaining on an internet forum.



I've lived DT for quite a while now, and I never see any marketing materials for the clothing botiques describing what they carry and what the costs are. As the owner it is your role to educate the general public on your merchandise. If you formed an alliance with the other botique owners and split the costs of the campaign, I think you'd all reap the rewards. Just a thought.

What type of marketing materials would you suggest?



As someone who grew up in StL I do not think I could ever have enough time or money to change people’s perception by simply passing out a flyer. We are the “Show Me State” after all. Come by, we are happy to show you. Personally, I am always looking to improve my selection and do so when a valid suggestion is presented.



I am saddened every time I see a new business opening and then watch the forum complain about the selection and price. So many times the forum is wrong. If you would turn off the computer and stop by that place of business you would see the real selection.





In summary, I was not complaining about business as we are doing quite well, thank you. I was complaining that some people need to get off their computer and see what’s really out there.

Maybe just a simple mailer sent to all DT residents. Make a small catalog, 3-4 pages long similar to what Macy’s does almost weekly. It would cost 3-5k depending on how you do it, but that's where you could work with all of the boutique store owners to share the cost. Do this seasonally or bi-seasonally. Emphasize your lowest priced items. Place coupons in the catalog that are good at all participating boutiques. This gives them more of an incentive to come in and check your place out and additionally allows you to track how effective your advertisement campaign is going.



Make a prominent theme on your website that advertises bargain items. Advertise your website on your user account here and direct people to it.



Change the paradigm that people have that all DT boutiques must be expensive. It’s not complicated, just make a marketing plan and execute it. If you want I’ll even help you guys.

Is there a dowtown retail/restaurant association. I think it would great if all of the retail stores combined their resources and advertised the downtown retail district.



If you think you would like to do print advertising, PM me, my family owns a printing company with the largest digital print capacity in the state.