Winter 2012

The Next Bag Thing By Heather Johnson Durocher

Handbags are the ultimate fashion accessory—timeless yet capable of adapting to fun fashion trends. Find out what a little hip can do for your store and your sales.

That Casey Krause’s shop sells handbags is a testament to how female shoppers are crazy for this fashion accessory. See, Krause happens to co-own a boutique-style garden center. Yes, that’s right, a garden center.

“They love them, they really do love them,” says Krause, who helps operate Hillside Garden Center in Binghamton, NY. With the majority of the customers being women, handbags get a really warm reception, she says.

No matter your specialty store niche, handbags are indeed a product worth selling, industry experts say. “From a practical point of view, women—all women—carry lots of things. Therefore a handbag comes in handy as a convenient way to lug your stuff around,” says Shakira Polite, creative director and lead stylist for Colin Megaro, a West Hollywood, CA-based fashion styling company that offers services such as assisted and personal shopping, closet “editing” and celebrity styling. “Handbags also are a must-have for women because they complete any ensemble.”

From totes and satchels, to clutches and wristlets, handbags come in numerous sizes and sell as much for their style and beauty as they do for their functionality. Today’s trends point to even more versatility (think cross-body bags in an assortment of sizes to fit any body type) and customization (like build-your-own bags).

“It’s like the last piece to a puzzle, the one that pulls everything together,” Polite says. “Accessories, most importantly the handbag, have the power to drastically change any look. You can take your favorite little black dress from the office to cocktails just by swapping your satchel for a sparkly clutch.”

Versatility works

Victorian Heart, a Kirbyville, MO-based handbag manufacturer, understands this well. “It’s so much easier to buy and change your handbag than it is to change your entire wardrobe,” says Keshia Baxter, marketing manager. “It’s an easier way to incorporate that hot new tone or hue instead of changing your clothes.”

Convertible handbags, or bags that shoppers can create themselves because there are interchangeable pieces, are enticing, says Cindy Fedish, owner of Country Additions Gift Shop in Binghamton, NY. The store sells M-I-S handbags, which do very well for Fedish. “I love the bags because you can add on the different bottoms and change the handles and the flaps,” Fedish says. “You don’t have to change your entire purse to get a different look. You can just add a flap, and it changes the total look of your purse without a whole new purse. It’s very economical.”

Fedish has bought these handbag pieces herself, for their versatility and price point. Country Additions sells the interchangeable components for $10 to $20 a piece. To best explain how these handbags work, the shop displays a poster showing the “build-a-handbag” process, and plays a how-to video throughout the day.

Michelle I. Stupski, handbag designer and owner of M-I-S Handbags, believes that shoppers want more bang for their buck when it comes to handbags. “I just think with today’s economy and the expense of a handbag, you should be able to have it exactly the way you want it,” Stupski says. “People want versatility. It gives them the option to change things up.”

Karla Staley offers another personalized approach to handbags through her Tinley Park, IL business Bagitude! Handbags with Attitude. Staley recycles old playbills, record album covers, game boards and boxes, photographs and turns it into a well-constructed handbag with a retail price of $58-$68.

“It’s about taking items that used to be part of your life and turning it into something you can cherish everyday as a purse,” she says. “People can connect with just about everything I have. Who doesn’t have a fond memory of reading a Nancy Drew book or classic literature book?”

Charlette Boyd, owner of Milwaukee, WI.-based Nailah’s, uses recycled, discontinued leather to create clutches, handbags and cross-body bags. “Sometimes the upholstery companies are getting rid of materials,” says Boyd, who began making handbags eight years ago. Nailah’s bags come in an assortment of sizes. “You have people who don’t want a big bag,” she says. “I do a lot of conversion type things. So my backpack is both a backpack and a messenger bag. You can wear it on your arm or shoulder with the adjustable straps. I’m always looking for versatility because I think of myself and what I want in a bag.” Boyd’s motto: You don’t carry a bag, you wear it.

Cassandra Connors, founder and director of Bella Bag, an online marketplace for authentic, pre-owned luxury bags, agrees that wearable handbags are desirable. “The bag trends are all about wearable glam,” Connors says. “Everyone loves a versatile clutch, people are wild about python and exotic patterns, and the classic quilted designs popularized by Chanel are popping up on arms everywhere.”

Classic styles

Many women enjoy a classic look to their handbag, yet also want a bit of flair that leaves them feeling their carry-all isn’t completely same-old, same-old, says Stella Chang, head of design for New York, NY-based Chocolate Handbags.

“We try to create products for women who like something classy with a bit of a twist. Ours are not a cheap bag that is boring,” Chang says. A top seller is Chocolate Handbags’ velvet bag, featuring “a beautiful bow with the body of the bag being velvet,” she says.

“It’s bringing it up a notch,” she says of the 16.5-inch wide bag that’s good for traveling. It comes in muted pink, gray and taupe.

Rebecca Ray Designs, a Chagrin Falls, OH-based handbag manufacturer, also offers more classic-styled handbags, described as “American couture handbags.” These include three lines of handbags—Field Series, Paddock Series and Estate Series—that feature rich and elegant color choices and classic fabrics and design details, says Rebecca Ray Designs spokesperson Carrie Leber. In some cases, vintage jewelry and unique sporting images are part of the designs, she adds. These handbags also work well with the equestrian trends that are hot right now.

Smart handbag investing

Consider your customers and store location when determining just how much to invest in handbags, Polite says. For example, if you get a lot of traffic—then having an accessory wall or display can prove quite beneficial, she says.

If your customers are purchasing more grocery or food-type items, have canvas tote bags on hand, she says. Shops with a higher-end clientele can go into leathers and other textures.

“The key is to supply the demand for your customer and always carry items that are on trend,” Polite says. “Most gift shop customers are impulse buyers and seeing a similar style handbag in a shop that they saw in their favorite fashion mag will no doubt catch their eye.”

Krause, of Hillside Garden Goods, encourages other independent boutique owners to think outside the purse, er, box and consider carrying handbags. She’s fairly certain you’ll make customers happy and increase sales. Who doesn’t love a quality, fun handbag, after all, she says.

“It can be kind of an impulse buy,” she says. “It’s so easy to sell something we like ourselves.”

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Heather Johnson Durocher

Durocher is a northern Michigan-based journalist who writes frequently about business for newspapers and magazines. She has contributed to USA Weekend, Woman's Day, Parents and American Baby. Visit her website at HeatherDurocher.com