Apr 15, 2009

Niche retailers stay creative to keep local shops goingBy Jamesetta WalkerHamptonRoads.com

It’s been a long, torturous end to the winter doldrums, and Beverly Bates is eager to see some fresh green. Money that is.

On this warm, breezy Good Friday morning, the owner of Beverly’s Fine Fashions was in the parking lot at Hilltop North Shopping Center in Virginia Beach handling business with a vendor. Bates wanted to look at summer wedding attire.

She came into the store bubbly and focused, looking not at all affected by the bluster outside.

“Life has been really, really tough,” Bates said, as the vendor pulled out items I tried to ignore because I knew I would want them. Bates has been in business 12 years and does not want to fall victim like her neighbor a few doors down, the national chain S&K Menswear. It is going out of business.

Bates is among local independent fashion retailers who are getting creative to capture an equally creative and focused clientele.

Bates is being proactive.

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