0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

252 ● 201 Great Ideas for Your Small Business
In 2010, the company had about 100 reps and six Nina McLemore
stores, mostly on the East Coast. The company also has stores in Cleveland,
San Francisco, and Dallas and sells the line in 30 specialty stores.
Like most entrepreneurs, McLemore said she started the business with
her own money. She later raised additional capital from angels and venture
capitalists. (She declined to reveal any financial information about the
privately held company.)
Today, Nina McLemore and her team are busy meeting demand for
elegant, professional clothes, priced somewhere between high-end department
stores and designer apparel. A Nina McLemore suit retails for about
$1,200. The pieces are designed to be mixed and matched and worn for
several seasons. McLemore says she designs about four new lines a year.
The recent recession actually boosted sales. She said many professional
women stopped buying designer labels, even if they could afford to buy them.
On the positive side, layoffs during the recession sent many professional
women back into the workforce to look for new jobs. Dressing for
success is essential for professional women, contends McLemore.
“How you dress affects your life and success,” she told me. “Men don’t
buy suits off the rack because they understand the importance of quality
and fit. If a woman doesn’t dress like a serious player, it can hurt her career.”
McLemore’s designs are sewn in the United States and made from
mostly imported fabrics. She imports silk from India and fine woolens
from Scotland and Italy. (I’m planning to wear her wonderful designs while
speaking on my book promotion tour, so keep an eye out.)
“Production is not a problem, but a big problem is finding pattern
makers,” said McLemore. “It’s a dying art.”
Luckily, she can still find pattern makers overseas, and “a lot can be
done on the computer.”
Another company relies on personal service to sell custom-made
apparel. J. Hilburn deploys 650 sales reps, called “style advisers,” to customers’
homes or offices. There, they take measurements and send the details
off to a factory near Macau, China. The company’s shirts are made from
Italian fabrics.
The venture-backed company, founded in 2007 by two former financial
executives, expects to post sales of about $9 million in 2010. Veeral Rathod,
one of the founders, told Bloomberg Businessweek that no one seemed to be
focusing on serving male shoppers.