Customer Service Star #3: Vive La Femme

DISCLOSURE:  Vive la Femme announced last week that they are closing.  

Title: Vive la Femme: Be the customer

Source: Crain's Chicago Business. 35.40 (Oct. 1, 2012): p0023.

Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2012 Crain Communications, Inc.

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Byline: Lisa Bertagnoli

Stephanie Sack, owner of Vive la Femme, a plus-size clothing boutique in Bucktown, has developed a cult following among women like Myisha Hill.

"Stephanie understands us," says Ms. Hill, 30, founder of Plus Fashion Week Chicago, a fall expo for designers and retailers. "Stephanie makes women feel good in their own skin."  No wonder. Ms. Sack, 38, who loves clothes, loves to shop and wears a size 12 to 14, fits her boutique's demographic. She is the main saleswoman, the model for the store's Facebook page--its chatty postings generate 20 percent of sales--and the author of the store's newsletter, emailed every Friday to 5,000 customers.

Her efforts have earned her 250 regular customers, 103 Yelp reviews, almost all of which are five stars, and about $400,000 in annual sales. Ms. Sack also owns Violette, a 1,200-square-foot shoe and accessories store tailored to plus-size women, down the street in Bucktown.

Her shop stocks pretty clothes in bright colors and carries exclusive or hard-to-find brands. Body acceptance is a hot topic for Ms. Sack, who feels protective toward her customers. "People say awful things," she says, recalling a thin woman who walked in the boutique, said, "I don't need to shop here--yet," and walked out.  Ms. Sack forbids negative body talk. "It's a common refrain--'Do I look big in this, oh God, my hips are big,' " she says. "I really don't like to hear it." Yet she won't lie to customers. "If they say, 'Does my butt look big?' I will say, 'Yes, your butt looks big because it is big.' "

UNDERSERVED MARKET

The plus-size market, which accounts for 17 percent of the $108 billion women's wear market, is the most underserved in retail from a product standpoint, says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based retail research firm.

"Even though women want bold colors and prints, manufacturers don't make them," Mr. Cohen says. Manufacturers "really don't have that connection with the customer." Ms. Sack does. Colorful tops and dresses--she loves red and purple and adores teal--line the pink walls of her boutique. "Color sends a juicy, fun, youthful message," she says.

Exclusives--Igigi, Swak Designs and London Times dresses, plus tops and skirts by Kristin Miles and Eliza Parker--help customers dress individually. So does Ms. Sack's style counsel. Without skipping a beat, she advises a customer to wear a teal shrug with a purple polka-dot dress, and suggests leopard-print shoes with a blazing red, clingy wrap dress.

"Clothes should be fun and have a sense of humor," Ms. Sack says. The rainbow of color surprises new customers, as does Ms. Sack's ability to size them up when they walk in the door. "Everything she handed me fit," says Chandra Garcia, 40, a teacher at a Chicago public school. She first shopped at Vive la Femme last spring after meeting Ms. Sack at a Bikram yoga class. Ms. Garcia, who "dreads" shopping, expected to buy a pair of earrings; she left the boutique with two tops, a dress and a newfound admiration for her fellow yogi.

-- VIVE LA FEMME

Owner: Stephanie Sack, 38

Square feet: 1,000; 800 of selling space

Annual sales: $400,000

Service secret: "I create an atmosphere of positivity: This is how I meet you and this is how I accept you."

Why it works: "Nobody is more vocal than the plus-size customer," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based retail research firm. "When they see something they like, they let everybody know."

Copyright 2012 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Lisa Bertagnoli

Source Citation   (MLA 7^th Edition)

"Vive la Femme: Be the customer." Crain's Chicago Business 1 Oct. 2012: 0023. General OneFile. Web. 30 July 2013.

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