May 24, 2006
he passes up bags with too many nail heads or grommets. “Too busy,” she says.
She’s looking for hip and functional bags with clean lines and good construction. She prefers bags that are lightweight and labels that aren’t carried by competitors.
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She stays away from the supersized-bags that have become popular of late, saying that Baltimore women - who don’t walk the streets like New York women - prefer their handbags more compact. She also avoids other characteristics, such as suede, and black bags with white stitching.
“Baltimore doesn’t like white stitching,” Levitas says. “I don’t know why.”
After the two trade shows in New York - the first one at the Chelsea Piers is more high-end than the other, at the Javits Center - Levitas has ordered close to 250 handbags to come into her store from August to September.
This will make up Gotta Have Bags’ fall line of selections and styles.
At the end of all the foraging, she is exhausted and slightly anxious.
“You only know that you’ve bought right,” Levitas says, yo-yo bouncing a bag to see how much it weighs, “when it walks out the door.”
It is the driving question behind most buyers’ purchases: Will this handbag sell?
“This [job] can be chancy,” says Jodi L. Brodie, who buys the fashion-forward handbags for Treasure House in Pikesville, as she rides the tour bus back to Baltimore from a day at the shows. “If we bring it in, we’re making a statement saying that we believe in it and this is what we think is important for the season. Some things work, and some things don’t.”
In Baltimore, customers tend to be “safer” than many buyers would like.
“In a way, we’re a bit provincial,” says Lola Abt Hahn, buyer for handbags and accessories at Octavia in Pikesville. “They love fashion, but … ” She chooses her words carefully, not wanting to paint too bleak a picture of Baltimore.
Abt Hahn says she loved Lockheart, a new line she discovered at Accessorie Circuit, the higher-end of the two shows Levitas attended. But she isn’t sure if Baltimore’s women - who prefer recognizable brands - would see what she saw in the fanciful, embellished line of leather bags,.
“If I carry this new line that I just saw,” she says, “it’s so edgy and so fabulous. I don’t know. I would carry it, but I don’t think I can sell it.”
Abt Hahn and Brodie have many of the same customers - women with means and a real sense of high fashion.
Octavia, for instance, carries designer Marc Jacobs’ highly sought-after status bags. And Treasure House was one of the first to introduce Kooba - the latest “It” label - to Baltimore.
Levitas’ customers, on the other hand, want style and flair, but with a slightly lower price tag. So Levitas’ days traipsing up and down convention center aisles are filled with visions of dollar signs.
Botkier, a rising star in the handbag world, required buyers to purchase at least 10 bags. Fine for big department stores. Too much for Levitas.
Keeping costs low is harder this year -rising gas costs have worked their way even into the price of handbags.
“In the last two months, things have gone up 14 percent” for manufacturers, says Glen Teres, designer for Borsetta International, where Levitas buys many of her bags. His suppliers are “not absorbing those oil prices.”
March 2, 2006
We recently received an e-mail plea from a New Line staffer begging us to solicit support for beloved local Robertson Blvd. food cart vendor “Antonio the hot dog guy,” whom the owner of a newly opened accessories store called Surly Girl is attempting to displace. Knowing every story has two sides, and being fans in equal measure of both fiery sausage and Swarovski-crystal-encrusted calculators alike (see their online catalog: “Very, very trendy and cool purses!” says Ryan Seacrest–we shit you not), we stayed safely out of the matter. Today, Page Six stokes the flames:
[Surly Girl owner Alison] Muh retorts, “I am a small, new business trying to pay my astronomical rent. I cannot afford to lose a sale. Antonio was parked in front of my store and took up two parking spots all day … He was paying off parking enforcement with free food, which is why they let him park in a two-hour metered zone for over six hours a day. On one day alone, I counted more than 20 shoppers who could not walk through [Antonio’s] unruly line to get to my store. I begged my landlord to help me find a good solution for everyone. We finally approached Antonio directly and he yelled at us.”
Sony Pictures staffer Leigha Lindsay sent Surly Girl staff an e-mail with a subtle threat: “Have you had a turkey dog? A burrito? A tuna sandwich? I ask that you take this into strong consideration as bad press is not beneficial to your store.”
We must commend Muh, who could have easily replied to the angry industry luncher with a counter e-mail along the lines of, “Well, have you ever tried a Large Hamptons Hobo? A flower bangle? A Laguna Tote?!” Here’s hoping the two businesses find a workable solution, and that life on the bustling boulevard gets back to normal soon. After all, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t be able to pick up a couple kosher dogs with everything for you and your latest purchase, who probably hasn’t been fed in days.
February 28, 2006
Her handbags have been seen on the everyone from Eva Langoria, Jessica Simpson to expectant mom Angelina Jolie.
# Featured bags: Doris Clutch in petal satin with snake trim (carried on Desperate Housewives) - $307
# Emma Clutch in Kiwi (carried on Desperate Housewives) - $191
# Sophia bag in White Pearl Lamb with Natural Anaconda trim (sent to Jessica Simpson) - $481
# Espresso Baby Bag (sent to Angelina Jolie) - $425
# Gold Baby Bag (requested by Mariska Hargitay) - $425
Susan Fitch, the founder of Susan Fitch handbags, will be in studio to talk about her handbag company and why it is considered one of the “best” in Chicago. The segment will begin with Susan talking about how she got started in this business and her background. With a first-class flock of loyal fans, this meticulous designer has been catering to the au courant crowds across the country for years. Susan’s dedication to seeking out the finest materials, precise attention to detail and a hint of edginess, is her recipe for success.
The newest addition to Susan’s collection is her Million Dollar Baby Bag. After the birth of her baby, she realized it was time to create a baby bag worth carrying (with or without the baby in tow). Understanding that modern-day moms are looking for something fashionable and functional, Susan created a luxurious bag that is ready to tend to any trend-setting tot, while keeping up with mom’s style.
Recently seen on ABC’s “The View” and “The Today Show,” Susan Fitch bags are sold at Barneys New York, Kitson in LA, Holt Renfrew in Canada, and across the country at specialty boutiques. For more information about Susan Fitch, log onto susanfitch.com.
November 8, 2005
It is said, to be successful in selling, you must be passionate about what you sell. This is easy if you love designer handbags and fashion. Fashion is a huge industry. Wholesale designer handbags and fashion is also quickly becoming a very large and profitable industry.
But as good as it sounds, there are many things to know before you jump in and become a designer handbag wholesaler.
The most important issue you must understand is the manufacturing and distribution channels of the top designers. The production of designer handbags is almost a top-secret event. With the heavy competition between the designers to offer the latest and hottest trends for the up coming season, handbag manufacturers keep quite about their production runs, the quantity they will produce and orders must be placed two or three seasons in advance just to get any product. What does this mean to you, the wholesaler? It means that you cannot call up GUCCI or Hermes and ask for a couple hundred bags and expect to not get laughed at (in Italian of French of course). It also means that the top designer handbag manufacturers only supply their product to large retailers, small boutiques and maybe a website with an exclusive contract.
So where do all the handbags that you see for sale online come from? Well, that is the key to getting into the wholesale designer handbag business. Most of the bags come from intentional or unintentional overstock by the small to medium size boutiques oversees. They will sell off their surplus of last season’s handbags to distributors who will then sell them to wholesalers. It is your goal to find these distributors.
To find reputable, honest dealers who distribute authentic merchandise is tricky. There are a couple of things to consider.
**Most dealers that sell designers from Italy, France and England are not found in the US. It only makes sense. They need to have a close relationship with the boutiques, and very rarely the manufacturers themselves, that supply them with their overstock. So become familiar with what country the handbags you want to sell were originally produced.
**Learn the language. You will need to learn a little Italian or French. Just enough to understand colors, styles and shapes of the handbags when you are given an inventory list. It would also be good to know enough to at least say hello and what your intentions are when initially contacting the dealer. Learning the language is also extremely helpful when conducting searches on the internet. Don’t limit your search to pages here in the US, search google and yahoo in Italian and French as well.
**Contact as many dealers as possible. This will help to validate which ones are honest and have an interest in a business relationship. Once you have received the inventory/price list from several dealers, cross reverence them. Are the prices similar? Are the quantities on hand reasonable? This is important to gage if the dealer is selling authentic merchandise. If he has 600 of a particular bag, chances are they are not real. It is not reasonable, given the means in which he most likely purchases his stock and the production methods of the manufacturing, that he would have so many of one style.
**Understand all terms of sale prior to placing an order. It is not uncommon that the dealer will want a deposit on your order. You will usually commit 30% up front and pay the remainder when the items have shipped. Many dealers will only accept bank transfers. This is where becoming a designer handbag wholesaler takes a great deal of faith. A bank transfer offers no protection from the dealer taking your money and never shipping product. If he was dishonest and took the funds, but shipped nothing, you could have very little recourse. Unlike a money order or credit card purchase, there is no 3rd party protection. At the least, make sure you have the dealers phone number, complete business address and email address.
Of course, like with all start-up business, there are many, many more things to consider. But to make your search for the right distributor easier, we highly recommend going to ModaImports.com. Unlike the many lists and directories that claim to offer true sources for authentic designer handbags, ModaImports.com has used, or contacted, all of the sources on their Supplier Database.
If you have a passion for fashion and are looking to start your own lucrative business, wholesale authentic designer handbags is a great business opportunity.
November 7, 2005
Shopping in Beverly Hills last week I strolled Wilshire Boulevard popping in and out of fancy stores sizing up all the new designer handbags. There are a number of new looks for Fall 2005, and prices have a new look, too. Did you know designer handbags have become the staple in most wardrobes? It doesn’t take a genius to buy a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, but to purchase the correct designer handbag to pull it all together has become quite an art.
In conversations with many handbag salespeople, it was obvious the upcoming season will offer a variety of wild colors, exotic leathers, and metallic finished leathers. They will appear in shoulder styles, clutches, slings and large totes. Most designer bags remain consistent in size and function. The variations from season to season come to color, hardware, texture and price.
Prices are a difficult topic for handbag lovers to discuss, it became the purpose of the Beverly Hills shopping trip. Which designers will rise to the top? Which handbags will have the highest price tags? These thoughts offered astonishing observations wondering through the high-end boutiques and department stores.
Doing a bit of mental gymnastics with a few designer handbag price tags, it became obvious a calculator was needed! Prices are competing with Los Angeles mortgage payments! One designer bag, constructed of scratch resistant, pebble grain calf leather, had a hefty $3500.00 price tag. Durability to last a life time is a major characteristic of a quality handbag, but let’s get real here, women change handbags as often as they change their nail polish. Paying hefty prices for a designer handbag a few times each month is fashionable, but not healthy or wise.
Not mentioning any names, a lengthy conversation with a handbag specialist in a very well-known department store shed light on the day’s mission. We strolled the designer handbag department with calculator in hand. Punching in numbers of our favorite high-end designer, we came up with a hefty five-figure total for 10 handbags. Then, with jaws dropped open, the average price was uncovered! As expected, little was left to shock and surprise. Based on a sampling of the designer handbag prices, the price for a brand new, high-end designer handbag this season averages an all-time high of $2000.00 USD.
Oh my! What a price we pay to pull it all together with that pair of denim jeans and T-shirt! We have become the hunters in search of the best designer handbag we can find. And, when we know it will coordinate with a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then we know we’ve selected the best bag. We want to look good, and we want to feel good, too. It would be nice to know we can purchase a bag from a new designer and still make a mortgage payment this same month.
Here’s a solution. For those of us who know style and don’t want to compromise quality, find a designer handbag expert to coach and guide your investments. Lacking modesty, I’ll volunteer recommendations on a variety of designer handbags available at a fraction of what you’d expect to pay in a retail store.
You can actually purchase several handbags for the average cost of one designer handbag if you shop wisely. If you are a true designer handbag addict, and you purchase a new handbag whenever you get the urge, then you need a reliable source. Shop carefully at sites specializing in designer handbags, and you’ll find your favorite designers at as much as 50% less than the average cost on Rodeo Drive!
