“I just have to try to keep my prices low by not making such a profit,” Levitas says.
She buys pieces from small companies, ranging from $18 to about $200 wholesale, prices she says her customers will not balk at.
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Bigger stores, with bigger budgets, don’t have to be so nitpicky.
Saks Fifth Avenue, for example, has four handbag buyers to shop for 54 stores, and most are concerned about presenting a “point-of-view” for each store, says Moore of Saks.
“Of course, we’d like to have a touch of everything in every store,” he says, “but that’s not realistic.”
So large flagship Saks stores, such as in Washington, New York and Houston, have selections that are broad, varied and “fairly high-end,” Moore says. Medium-sized stores, say in St. Louis or Columbus, Ohio, have somewhat of a more casual feel, with fewer choices. Small stores, such as in Santa Barbara, Calif., or Greenwich, Conn., have scaled-down, more personalized perspectives.
“Greenwich is pretty much all designer,” Moore says, “and Fort Myers, [Fla.], is more casual, very young and fresh.”
Bigger stores also buy bags much further in advance than specialty shops. While buyers from boutiques are looking to stock for fall, Saks’ buyers are ordering for next spring.
And department store buyers rarely, if ever, put in orders at accessories trade shows. Instead, they see what’s new there and may make appointments to order from showrooms - organized representatives of various labels.
Levitas visits showrooms, as well, of labels she knows best, where sales reps work more closely with her to tailor her selections for her customers.
But that is for another day.
On this day, she will shop the shows, up and down the aisles, hunting for the perfect handbag.
And she won’t get back on the bus for Baltimore until she’s found it.