Home Bridal Shop - questions for ladies!

[emily271]

Please can I have your help ladies...

I'm thinking of opening an appointment only bridal shop (selling bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, prom dresses etc) in one of my rooms in my house (to avoid business rates, store rental etc). 2 Questions:

1)Do you think people will find it weird going to someones house to try on dresses?? Would you?

2)Besides asking for opinions on this forum, I'm not sure how to conduct market research to find out if people would visit or not...any ideas?

Thanks so much for your thoughts and opinions!

 

[S-Marketing]

I could tell you exactly how to do the marketing research, but im not a lady.

 

[PDRD]

Some of these do exist, the wife once had 'Don't tell the bride' on TV and the bride visited a home base shop. 1 room was filled with dresses and 1 small box room was free for changing.

Seems like a good idea. Take bookings so one 1 client at a time.

 

[emily271]

oops I'm sorry Stretchy, I meant to only ask the one question (obviously only relevant to ladies) but then added on the second q, forgot to change the heading!

 

[warnie]

Depends on your house

Actually in all seriousness it really does, I believe you would need to live in a decent sized house though with a good sized frontage for parking for it to work. You see some accountants and dentists etc occupying big houses on busy main roads so if they can I don't see why you can't .

I'm not a woman though so sorry if I'm talking crap.....

 

[MrsPWN]

I think it would depend on what end of the market you were looking at. Maybe if someone wanted to spend less that £300 (top of my head figure) then maybe but if cost isn't the over riding factor then I think they would want the whole experience of a shop. Plus from what I have seen it usually involves 2-3 friends as well so could end up being a bit crowded.

 

[hgibbster]

I think you may also struggle to get decent designers to supply you from a home based address. I own a Bridal Shop and finding good labels for your shop is key!

 

[deniser]

If you use part of your house exclusively for business use then you will have to pay business rates on that portion.

Also, if you have people calling at your house then you will need to apply to the Council for change of use.

This in turn will affect the capital gains tax position on the sale as it won't all be subject to the main residence exemption. There will also be insurance issues to consider.

Consider also the problem where a gown doesn't for whatever reason turn up on time. You don't really want people knowing where you live. There are a lot of horror stories on the internet about cross brides.

 

[Riffy]

well, I guess theres a few things to think about.

1) your target audience
- Will a bride want to go to a house rather than the experience of a shop? will they find it funny that you dont have bricks and mortar?
you have to think - would YOU want to go to someone's home if it was you spending close to 1k+?
They could have animals and you could be allergic?
The gowns could smell of food and cooking after smells wafting through the house! Not good for when you want to collect your own gown.
Also - do YOU want brides on your doorstep in the evenings? Sat? Sunday? Calling your number then turning up and knocking on the door if you dont answer?

2) Most bridal manufacturers will NOT sell to a shop unless they are bricks and mortar!

3) what will the bank say in funding this?

4) will you get a credit card machine terminal installed at a house? Most shops have to put down deposits of 20-80K JUST to have a card processor! and then they can keep your money from 3 - 90 days.

5) the TAX MAN - Ooohhhh, well - if its not declared as a legit business, then god help ya!

Look - I dont want to sound negative - but ask yourself this....WHY arent there businesses like this working from home already? Believe me, its been thought about from every retailer in the industry I know (and thats a lot).
The answer is because its not as black and white as you think.
I for one would be very worried about going to a house and coughing up hundreds of pounds to someone that cannot prove why they are still trading! The fact that shops HAVE bricks and mortar means they DO pay their bills, and they will be there when the gown is due to arrive.

Also, Most shops DO offer a personal one to one service by appointment - so the only thing you want to do different, is cut out your costs by using your house?....because the rest of it is no different to everyone who already runs a shop.

 

[BLUSH0611]

Please can I have your help ladies...

I'm thinking of opening an appointment only bridal shop (selling bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, prom dresses etc) in one of my rooms in my house (to avoid business rates, store rental etc). 2 Questions:

1)Do you think people will find it weird going to someones house to try on dresses?? Would you?

2)Besides asking for opinions on this forum, I'm not sure how to conduct market research to find out if people would visit or not...any ideas?

Thanks so much for your thoughts and opinions!

To be honest there are far to many bed-room businesses out there already damaging the reputation of bricks and mortor bonifide shops/boutiques who do'nt try to avoid business rates and the like....if your going to do it, do it properly and pay your tax and VAT like everyone else.
Yes fair enough we all have to start somewhere, my wife and I started our first business 20 years ago with nothing at all and went out there knocking on doors to get the sales but always made sure we paid our bills and contributed to our local econnomy. rant over!!

 

[newme]

Hello Emily,

As somebody said choosing the wedding dress is all about the experience. If you're planning a "white" wedding, you really want that moment to be special. That means having your mum and friends or sisters with you, trying on LOADS of gowns, veils and shoes, etc.
Selling from your house would make it difficult for you to have all those items in stock.
How would you go about showing different models and sizes to the bride? Would they have to choose from a catalogue (paper or online) and tell you their size before they book an appointment? Would you then order the various items in time for the appointment?
Personally I think that's a lot of hassle on botjh parts and kills the magic of seeing the dress in the window or shop and touching it.
Also body shapes are so different, it may be a real issue if you are limited in the number and range of dresses you can stock and show at your house.
I would go to someone's house only for a tailor made dress.

Let me know if you need help with your market research.

Em

 

[rocksroses]

I agree with deniser, and would like to add that by avoiding paying rates and all bills associated with a business, makes you look very untrustworthy to customers for a start.

Unless you are trying to make a quick buck by stacking high and selling cheap this business is not viable without costing you more than you think.

You would be better off in a small shop - not even on the high street as Bridal is a destination shop- and do things properly. Legitimate and recognised bridal designers will not allow you to sell from home, leaving you only with chinese fakes. These dresses are not worth the box they're delivered in and you will get more complaints from brides than enough.

Also you only need to visit ebay to see how many people are selling cheap fakes. The market is saturated with ebay and bedroom sellers trying to avoid paying for a business. I don't think there is a need for another but obviously its your decision.

 

[Michele1066]

As the ladies above have suggested you will need to register your home as a business. In addition unless you are actively making the dresses yourself I would be careful. Many of the better known bridal suppliers/designers will not supply you. Two reasons you are not in a business presmises and you are likely to be near to where they already sell via an outlet or stockist. Brides prefer the luxury of a shop especially if they are parting with large sums of money, it makes them feel better more comfortable. if you want to do this properly with quality good then do the reasearch, work in a bridal store even a retail for some time. But understand there are many of us in shops working hard to build a reputation and if youdont approach this in a professional business like way the rest of us will suffer

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

I actually did this about 25 years ago - set myself up as a wedding dress agency, selling on once worn wedding/bridesmaid dresses from my home. Really didn't work at all. Obviously, there was no internet back then, spent a great deal of money on newspaper ads, got lots of phone calls making appointments to view dresses, half the people didn't turn up, some of those that did really didn't come to buy anything at all.
Sold about 4 dresses in about 6 months, just about covered the cost of advertising.
Hated knowing people were coming to my home, hated it even more when they didn't turn up; some turned up with friends, mothers, mothers-in-law to be, bridesmaids, sisters ..... nightmare.
Dresses were bulky (think large meringues!) took up loads of space; nothing fitted anybody properly so things had to be altered - not a service I was offering. All in all, a complete waste of time.
With the internet as competition it would have been even worse.

 

[Laurenpears]

Helllo, referring back to your OP - i have considered doing something like this for bridal and bridesmaid wear, would look to do it in my conservatory.
I think if you can provide decent quality bridal wear you can be in with a good chance, obviously you have the power of social media on your side aswell these days, so you can get your name out there
Good luck with everything, i will drop you a message if its something i decide to proceed wtih

 

[sarahjohs]

Hi Emily,

Your idea of business makes sense if you intend to price cheaper than other business of the like. The whole "finding the perfect dress" experience will not be the best at a room used for this kind of business. So price has to be your driving factor I think.

Good luck!

 

[fashionprintdesigner]

Victorias Secret was started with a more homely idea in mind of creating that environment rather than department store.

 

[Stuart Bailey]

Firstly I am a bloke so please dont ignore my answer.

Secondly, do your want your customers to know where you live?

Finally, my understanding is that brides to be want to feel special, be pampered and have a thoroughly enjoyable lovely time when deciding which dress to choose and try on. Are you really going to be able to do that in your home, even if you have separated out the shop from your house?

 

[emily271]

I was planning on buying the dresses wholesale from china (around £100 each) and selling them for £250 each. I have a seven bedroom house so was planning on using the top floor (which is just over 1000 sq ft) consisting of 2 bedrooms and a bathroom (1 bedroom to display all the stock and the other for use as a changing room). Both bedrooms would have sofa beds in them so would be used as guest bedrooms when not being used as a shop (which I think eliminates the need for business rates). I wouldn't need a bank loan as all the stock would come under £5000 which I can afford. The house is more like a country manor so I wouldn't think brides would mind coming, but its not like a usual shop I suppose. I would have appointments and friends/family etc would be able to come because there is space for at least 2 sofas in one of the rooms, so the bride would have exactly the same experience that they would have in a normal shop.
I take on board what people have said about people turning up unannounced and angry brides coming to the house!! Maybe I'll have a rethink!

 

[hgibbster]

Have you ever dealt direct with wholesalers in china? Unless you are confident in doing so I wouldn't go there. What if there are problems with dresses when they arrive with you? I own a Bridal shop and one of our collections is made in China, but the 'designers' that I deal with are based in Leeds, they are the people who sort out any issues if they arise.

Also, I think to make it work you would need at least one or two well known makes, to appeal to the Brides looking for where to shop. Even our most Budget Bridal range has absolutely no dresses we can buy in for £100, Bridal is not a get rich quick scheme, I would maybe be rethinking your spending of £5000.

 

[Hollygirl]

Have you ever actually SEEN some of these dresses that come from China for £100?

They're £100 for a reason, they're "usually" badly made, cheap fabrics, poorly fitting, and they turn up in the wrong size, wrong colour, or not at all.

If you have 5k to waste on these dresses, then good luck to you, but I wouldn't touch them with 5p of my money.

If you don't believe me search for "reasons why not to buy your gown online" on facebook. The pictures speak for themselves

 

[deniser]

Yes and there are breach of copyright issues too.

 

[emily271]

I was going to use sexyher.co.uk which deals directly with China but is based in South London. They sell wholesale wedding dresses for £100-200, I've bought 3 wedding dresses from them and the quality was fine, and sizing too. I visited their showroom a few months back and it all seems very legit. Ah I dunno, everyone is so negative and you all probably have more experience than me so maybe I'll leave it for now. Back to the drawing board..there must be some business I can do out there from home!! :|

 

[annikour]

Good luck with everything!!!