Retail clothing store

[shawn0001]

Does anyone in here have a retail clothing store or know anything about one? I am looking to start one and i just have a few questions. Anyone willing to help?

[m8internet]

I work for several (albeit in Supply Chain Auditing)
Clients include M&S, BHS, Mosaic, Adams, Arcadia, Ted Baker, as well as a few others

What exactly do you want to know?

What type of retail fashion...
Mens
Ladies
Youth
Childrens
Footwear

[shawn0001]

Well my store is a mens and womens higher fashion store with brands like, nudies jeans, 7 for all man kind, obey, diezel,fenchurch, flippa k. The store is going to be about 2000 to 2500 sq ft. Anyway im just wondering how much the average store orders in dollars per month. Obviously there are a million variables but im doing my cashflow projections and im just wondering how much i should write down as far as ordering stock per month. My estimated monthly sales i think should average between $40,000 and $60,000. Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[m8internet]

If you are importing from the US to UK then you will have import duty and this may dent your cashflow and profits
You would probably also need to register for VAT due to the volume of sales, and this too would affect the cashflow
Can you confirm if you are in the UK or US

Most stores now run JIT ordering, or that is to say "Just In Time"
Stock levels are usually based on a prediction of common sales
Obviously if you are new to the industry this could be a bit of a guessathon
So the next question is how much experience do you have in this field and in what area

You will also need to take into account seasonal changes, as well as social changes
There is no point trying to sell sweaters in May or shorts in November!

[retailworld]

I haven't got the relevant experience for clothes stock management, but as a rule I would have advised 3-5 weeks worth of sales as a stockholding.

It depends a lot on how you want your store to look. If its higher end fashion I'll assume you're going for lots of display space, in which case you'll effectively need less stock to make the shop look full.

Bear in mind, my personal bug-bear when clothes shopping is seeing something I really like on disaply, and then the shop not having my size.

Fashions go out very quickly too, so you only really want to order what you think you can sell in a seasonal period.

[m8internet]

Basing a stockholding based on sales isn't practical for a fashion store (it's more relevant for food retail)

The stockholding is usually based on "stock in stockroom not on sales floor"
Sounds odd, but this is the ratio of stock that is on display and in the stcokroom, to that in the stockroom which is not on display

Most fashion companies base their stock holdings around the common sizes
For ladies, this will be 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18
Each design will come in a set of those sizes, like this :
1 x 10, 1 x 12, 2 x 14, 1 x 16, 1 x 18
or
2 x 10, 3 x 12, 3 x 14, 2 x 16, 1 x 18

You then need to calculate how long it will take for one of the rare sizes to be replenished
So lets say in each case one of each the size 18s is sold within three days of their arrival
If the order to delivery time is 4 days (two deliveries per week), then you need to order two of each on the first delivery andone of each on the second delivery, and then monitor thereafter

As you can see from this, this requires the supplier to be able to supply small quantities and frequently
This increases transport costs and decreases profits, but it helps to even out sales over the longer term
It also allows stock ranges to be flexible

If the supplier is not this flexible then this results in a larger stock holding
In my opinion this is money held in transit and is no longer a good business practice, and as such a new supplier should be found

[retailworld]

Much better answer than I could provide (as I did point out, I've never worked within fashion retail - not sure I could either!)

It's quite difficult to calculate without a few more specifics.

[shawn0001]

Thanks a lot to all of you for your input. I am new to the clothing end of retail so it will all be a learning experience. Greatly appreciated

[m8internet]

Can you confirm if you are in the UK or US
Can you confirm if you are in the UK or US


Thanks a lot to all of you for your input. I am new to the clothing end of retail so it will all be a learning experience. Greatly appreciated
I'd recommend you work in a clothing retail store, even if just for a few months

Shoplifters are a serious problem
Just a few weeks ago I had to do a full inventory report for a store on Argyle Street in Glasgow
The store was raided by a gang of 11 shoplifters, taking between 20 and 50 items each
The store was then closed for two days so that a stocktake could take place and the delivery in transit could be refused
The store reopened on the third day just as the corrected delivery arrived
The total stock loss was about £1800, the trading loss was nearer to £17000
Under loss recovery any of the offenders will be liable for their own proportion of this loss

[shawn0001]

Im actually from Alberta, Canada. I do have experience in a retail music store, its different but kind of the same. I think theres a lot of knowledge i can take from having worked there.

[m8internet]

Retail music and retail fashion are quite different
People don't need music, but to a certain degree they need fashion (or clothes at least!)
Margins are quite different as well

The customer bases are also different
I am quite sure it is the same in Canada as it is in the UK, with an ever increasing over 50s age group
If you look at retail fashion stores in the UK the amount of floor space and types of stores is increasing for the over 50s
As a result, the general fashion stores are cutting costs and in some cases mergers / acquisitions are happening

[retailworld]

Margins on Music are tight - you need to sell in volume to trade profitably.

Moreover, it is easy to 'rank' or chart music cds - thus making it easier to guage sales. You cannot do that with clothes.

I don't want to stifle you, but I really do think you could do with a bit more experience first?

[shawn0001]

Well im sure it wont be that hard, thanks for you opinions:)

[retailworld]

No problem, keep in contact and let us all know how its going.