Own store, own label, own taste: how to play – and win – the fashion game

Fashion is a fickle business, with trends arriving and departing at an alarming rate. Those brave enough to work in the industry must pay close attention to changing styles.

One woman who succeeds in this is Niamh Byrne, owner of Ruby Rouge, an upmarket clothing boutique in Gorey, Co Wexford. Setting up a store in a small rural town is one thing, but to then set up a clothing label during a recession is something else entirely.

“It was inevitable that I’d end up setting up a business of some kind,” says Byrne. “My parents were self-employed and even had a drapery shop at one stage, so I guess it was in the blood.

“I’m the only one of my siblings who ended up owning their own business, but I remember wanting to do so from the earliest age. Fashion was something I was keenly interested in when I was young. I was always sketching outfits for my Sindy dolls. As I got older, I’d spend whole weekends visiting second-hand shops to try to get great outfits that I could wear.”

Initially, Byrne, who is originally from Roundwood, Co Wicklow, studied business and marketing, and worked for a few years with a software firm. When she was made redundant in 2004 after the startup was taken over, she took some time out to go travelling. On her return, she decided to set up her own business.

Gorey move

“We had moved down to Gorey as my husband had a job down there and I also wanted to be based close to there for business, but it wasn’t set in stone that I’d open up a shop in the town at that point,” Byrne says.

“I probably spent about a year plotting and planning what kind of business to establish. After undertaking a lot of research and talking to business owners, both locally and further afield, I felt that there was a gap for a good fashion boutique in Gorey.”

As Byrne admits, it was a risk to set up shop in a small town, even after plenty of research. But it paid off quickly, with the store winning celebrity endorsements from Brendan Courtney, Laura Whitmore and Pippa O’Connor.

“You have to open up having already bought the full stock for the store, and as you’re starting off fresh and have put your all into it, you just have to hope it’s the right decision,” she says of the shop’s opening in 2005. “Thankfully, we got it right early on. I think that’s because we were aware that people coming into the store wouldn’t necessarily be after the same kind of outfits you’d get in Dublin.

“In the countryside, people tend to steer away from chain stores and buy more for occasions, whereas in the city they probably spend more on work clothes and day-to-day wear.”

Byrne also thinks her decision to follow her gut instinct and sell clothing that she and her fellow staff members liked, rather than just what was in vogue, also proved wise.

“It is difficult to keep on top of trends,” she says. “It’s better to buy what you feel will work. A lot of it is innate and comes from taking your cues from your environment.

“We have a very mixed clientele, but I’d say our core market is women in their late 20s, early 30s, and that would be reflective of my own tastes.”

As with most businesses, the shop was affected by the recession. Byrne responded by introducing more affordable lines and by beefing up the company website to boost online sales.

Having been big users of social media to promote the boutique, Ruby Rouge also started doing “Kate Friday on Facebook”, a popular fashion fix involving a local customer wearing newly arrived collections.

“Friends would sit together with a bottle of wine and watch Kate model the latest clothes. It’s proven to be a massive hit.”

Clothing label

The shop also diversified by establishing its own clothing line, Doll by Ruby Rouge, in 2009.

“We built it up really slowly with a small collection,” Byrne says. “We did it mainly for ourselves initially, but it quickly grew to a point where we had other shops ringing us up to get our clothes. It’s a whole different business in many ways and can be challenging, but we’ve been adding to it every year and it’s proven very popular.”

Byrne has had to put the label on hold as both she and a colleague recently had babies, but they’re planning to get back to it shortly. “We have built up a nice customer base and it’s grown into a respected brand, so we’re keen to see it flourishing again.” she says.

Meanwhile, with the economy getting back on track, the shop is also performing well. “We’re back positioning ourselves at the higher end of the market again with some new lines coming in that are more expensive than what we previously had. It’s going well, so we’re feeling optimistic.”