A friend of mine bought a little botique in my town. I went a few times but just didn’t like any of the clothes there. I mean they are not only not very attractive but also crazy expensive. Now I could use the “ out of my budget “ excuse but she would know that’s not true. She certainly knows clothes and has often complimented me on my clothing which is frankly sometimes very very expensive. Let’s face it saying “ too expensive” is hard to take seriously when one is wearing a $$$$$ belt and carrying a $$$$$$$ purse.
Now if the clothing were not expensive I’d just go and buy a staple item but $400 for a sweater I don’t like that much…no. I have tried “Ive exhausted my budget this season” but she called me today and I wasn’t thinking enough about what I was saying but we started talking about clothes and I talked about how I really wanted this type of jeans for spring and she made me promise to come in next week to see all the new stuff in the store since I’ll clearly be getting new for spring. When I’ve done that before I’ve tried on tons and she’ll spend a lot of time with me and I haven’t bought anything. Do I just say “ your stuff just isn’t my style and I don’t want to waste your time.”? I know this will hurt her feelings but is there a better solution?
Tell her that you have certain brands that you stick with for look, fit and feel. That way you aren’t flat out saying you don’t like her boutique, but that you prefer brands that she doesn’t carry.
As a business owner she is also going to have to deal with the fact that her stuff is not for everyone. Even some of her friends.
I agree with the above comments. You might also consider shopping there for a gift for someone who WOULD like her type of stuff - then you are still supporting your friend.
I’m stuck on the part where your purses require 7 dollar signs to describe them, lol. Is there any way you could suggest a designer YOU like to add to her boutique?
“Hey, I just saw the new X line in Y magazine! I would love to get my hands on them, have you checked them out? They could be something your clientele would go for.”
@sylvan8798 I almost put in how much my purse cost but then thought better of it! Lol. I never bought an expensive purse until recently. But I guess that’s the kind of thing one can do after you’ve paid for college ( which involved saving like mad and buying my niecest purses at Target) and then got an unexpected inheritance.
Her stores isn’t the kind that could carry the type of purse I have and in any event this is a buy every 5 years kind of thing. But good advice from everyone!
One can have a fancy bag and still consider a $400 basic sweater expensive. Shoes and bag (singular) are where I splurge. I hate to spend $$$ on clothing. It is $ or $$ for me.
Unless it is a coat…
I would tell her that her clothes are nice and perfect for the right customer that likes the style, but alas they are not my style. I would not comment on the price because “expensive” is a relative term. Maybe she has some established customers who shop in the price range.
I don’t shop at boutiques because I can’t withstand the sales pressure from strangers. You must be very strong to be able to withstand it from a friend!
I would tell her that, while her merchandise is nice, it is not what you see yourself wearing, but that you would certainly buy pieces as gifts for those for whom it would be suitable (if that’s the truth). If she asks you, I would tell her what you would like to see and would consider buying. Everyone’s taste is different. If possible, I would tell her this over coffee somewhere and not in the store.
Intersting question. I have a best friend of 45 years that I talk to every day… The store owner is in my next circle of people I talk to frequently and see maybe once a month.
When you spend a lot of time with her in her store you’re there as a client, not a friend. It’s not a personal insult to prefer other vendors. Your friend is practicing a hard sell on you. Using friendship to extract a business promise isn’t appropriate.
Using social pressure to get friends (particularly women) to buy things isn’t new. Many companies tout home parties as a way to make money. But we don’t do business that way. If a clerk from Target called and said they had a wonderful new spring line I wouldn’t promise to go look at it. My friends’ business ventures are no different. When they try to extract promises like that the best thing to say is that you have favorite vendors who you always try first, then assure them that you’d love to see them when they have time to socialize.
I love your store and your style choices. You have amazing taste. However, I can’t wear everything, or buy everything I love, and at this point in time am trying to stay very focused on developing a particular signature style, which is different than the lovely lines you are carrying. Your boutique is fantastic and I know you will be very successful.
Of course, you’ll need a follow-up if she offers to order “your signature style”. … thank you, but that is too much trouble and I’m not your target audience.
Back when I had friends with boutiques, before the 2008 collapse, they sometimes did special orders for me from companies that otherwise I’d shop online. I gave them the retail markup instead of the clothing company. That worked for me and them. These days, I try to buy handbags from a local boutique. The owner shows me his catalogs before he goes to market. I don’t buy much, but these are sales he wouldn’t otherwise make and he’s struggling. People look at his merchandise, try it, and go home and order it online for whatever discount they can find. He can’t stay in business that way.
I’m going to be very sad when all the boutiques disappear.
I hate the hard sell from friends with home businesses. I actually lost a friend who wouldn’t stop pushing her skin care line Kept insisting that I had to try it and could I please just listen to a sales pitch to consider my own franchise. Ah, no. She added me to a facegroup group that basically spammed my page with dozens of posts every day. I would leave the group and she would re-add me. I asked three times to please stop and ended up eventually blocking her. We weren’t that close to begin with and her pushiness was a total turnoff.
Your inheritance might have changed the dynamic of your friendship. Now that she knows you have some extra cash to spend, she feels freer to ask you to spend it in her boutique.
Can you keep it sort of light and breezy? “Oh, you KNOW I’m super picky about what I wear! I might try it, but if it doesn’t look perfect, I’m not going to buy it.”
@alh the behavior you describe is very common. It makes it hard for local businesses to survive. My daughter worked for a boutique last year that only carries brands that never go on sale for this reason. People might be able to find some discounts online, but they won’t be very steep, or they might be knockoffs. I shop there occasionally because I know I’m getting the real deal and that it won’t be made it some sweatshop in Taiwan. Also, their jeans are amazing.
Ugh. I have a “not close” college friend that opened a boutique about 18 months ago. A few of us went one evening and she was driving a few of us crazy, constantly bringing things back to try on. I felt pressured, as did others. I did end up buying a couple items that I liked, but most of the stuff isn’t my style. I’d pop in now and again, but I don’t want to run into her, I feel your pain if she’s a good friend. Thankfully all her stuff was in the $50 price range, so it didn’t hurt the pocketbook to buy a few things.
I used to own a clothing boutique 35 years ago. It’s tough. The markup on clothing then was 103%. So if I had a 50% off sale, you are getting it at my price. Anything under, I’m losing money. I think people think the markup on clothing is more than it is. Hard to compete with department stores.
I don’t equate a small business owner with someone who sells MLM products. Since I think it’s good to buy local and it helps our local economy, I like to buy local. MLM’s do not help the local economy and prey on those who can least likely to afford to fail, I don’t have a problem saying no to that.
We have a few local clothing boutiques here, we don’t have a lot of shopping and it’s good for our local economy to employ and add to our region. I am not good friends though so don’t feel the friendship pressure that @maya54 does. But although these boutiques have clothing that I do like sometimes, it’s a certain look and for mostly going out clothes. My look is so casual and I don’t go that many places where I need the kind of clothes they have. And after you have a few pieces that are that boutiques “look”, you don’t need anymore. It gets old and I like a different look.
But I try to find an occasional outfit because I don’t want these places to fail. And I admire local business owners, I don’t want Walmart (or other big box stores or amazon) to take over everything.
But saying all that, I don’t have anywhere to wear $400 sweaters that I’m not in love with. If I’m spending that much, it should be something very unique that not everyone in town knows where I bought it.
Another thing, my area has been hit by storm after storm. I follow my local boutiques on Facebook and you can tell from their posts that they are really hurting for customers. Also February is super hard for a business to make any money so I suspect that call was one of a bit of desperation. My H has a hobby which involved local stores. We could tell when times were getting pretty lean, because they would call to tell us of their specials. We usually made a trip in and bought a few things because it was advantageous for us to have a local store. I don’t think that is the case for @maya54 but trying to explain the phone call