The try on try on
The recent news that certain bridal boutiques were charging customers for trying on garments might set an interesting trend.
It is the nightmare of every boutique when women make a fantasy sport out of forays into the fitting room without any intention of buying. Trouble is, you can't tell the serious buyers from the sporties so offering the try-on fee as a discount on the garment, if purchased, makes sense if you can get away with it.
The boutique owner has to decide whether she wants to make revenue out of trying on or simply cut down on the number of sporties. If the latter, one way of handling the problem would be to charge for trying on if there was no purchase on the understanding that the money from non-buyers was going to charity.
It happened to Flinders Lane in Melbourne many years ago and now it's happening to Surry Hills in Sydney. The real estate first became too expensive to devote to factories, then warehousing and now showrooms. Most ground floor space has been taken over by factory outlet type retailing while, upstairs, fashion agents are being wounded by rent increases, the cost of parking and the challenges of moving goods in and out in narrow, cluttered streets.
In fact, one agent told me - upon pain of a good mugging if I mentioned his name - that it was only possible to run a profitable, full service agency if you did a bit of manufacturing on the side.
Another agent, EP Mohay, which is happy to be named, is celebrating its arrival in Alexandria where it has joined other defectors from Surry Hills. For more or less the same rent, Mohay has double the space, plenty of free parking and a soothing view across a park. It is possible to sit on real grass at lunchtime and watch people at their sporting endeavours or go for a trot yourself.
The new agency occupies one of a group of two-level commercial suites, offering many showrooms, multiple bathrooms, a homely kitchen and a stock/dispatch area fed by container-height roller doors.
Partner Peter Mohay says that the move has opened up room to represent more labels. The current stable concentrates on clothing for stylish, ageless women but that's not to say the agency wants more of the same. Despite the price of petrol and the expense of putting sales people on the road, Mohay still regularly visits its remote customers.
Alexandria remains affordable and nicely positioned between the city and airport. It has quite a few luminaries already, with more to come. Mr K, Discovery, T-Shirt Magic, Capitol Clothing, Braintree Hemp, Clipper International - name a few - all have shingles, while the adjacent suburbs of Waterloo and Roseberry are also collecting schmutta companies.
Recruitment
Are there too many recruitment agencies dealing in clothing and related business? Those already in it say yes, and would a few of the others kindly use their skills to find different employment. The overcrowding has been made worse by general recruiters dabbling in fashion without knowing much about it, but having back office horsepower in promoting their brand.
Of course, this problem is not confined to recruiters. There are too many trying to get into two few openings in most industries in Australia. There are, heaven forbid, too many journalists and too few publications.
So the pressure is on trying to be more excellent than the rest. But, while that is happening, the buyers do not always use the oversupply of services to their advantage.
Recruiter Yvonne Pembroke says that fashion companies looking for personnel would do far better by selecting a specialist recruitment agency and working with it rather than putting out blanket enquiries. What employee-seeking companies don't always appreciate is the level of information exchanged between recruiters. As soon as one bcc email goes out to every recruiter, there is a distinct lack of interest in filling the job because nobody wants to participate in the running of the bulls.
On the other hand, if a recruitment agency is given a placement to make on an exclusive basis, it will work extra hard to fill it and will use its contacts in the trade to enquire among possible candidates currently working, but willing to consider a change. That's where the best people come from, not from the queue of unemployed.
Another point that Yvonne makes is that companies looking for staff should make a habit of inviting the recruiter to look over the working conditions the candidate will encounter. This will go a long way to pre-qualify the candidate because the company can be described to them in detail, clearing the way to concentrate on the more important matter of the work itself.
By Fraser McEwing