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I opened a custom clothing store in Louisiana six months ago, specializing in tee shirts and jeans for men and women. In regards to the blue jeans that I sell, I specialize in custom, measured-to-fit jeans with my own label. I have made 16 pairs and all clients have been very happy. The process is working out very well. However; when making jeans from scratch, my cost is approximately $150. I am looking for additional capital to get 600 pairs of jeans manufactured overseas (the minimum order) at a cost (including shipping and tariffs) of $12 per pair. I would design the jeans and have wider seams to allow for alterations and complete customization once the client buys their jeans. In this way, I could reduce my total cost per jean from $150 to approximately $42, while still offering custom jeans that are tailored to fit. I am one of only a few retailers (if there are any others) offering custom, measured-to-fit jeans in the United States. The web sites that you'll find offering the same service are, for the most part, companies based overseas.
I am also expanding my custom line to include dresses, men and women's suits, men's button-down shirts and other custom items upon request.
I currently have my own retail location and I am also expanding my business by selling my custom products through other retail clothing stores. Locally, I have one upscale retail women's clothing store that is willing to give me a section in their store in August and another high end men's store that wants to offer custom jeans to their clients. My next step is to offer my custom clothing through other stores in nearby cities such as Houston, TX, New Orleans, LA and Baton Rouge, LA. I recently sent a few pairs of my custom jeans to a high end jean store with 5 locations in major cities in the U.S. and they were extremely interested in carrying my custom jeans.
In regards to the custom closet side of the business, I have a great idea for custom closets that includes custom shoe closets, clothing closets and jewelry closets. My first project was to make a shoe closet. I have made a prototype, which can by customized for each client. The idea is to build a closet or cabinet that can be mounted on the wall, inside or outside of a closet, or placed on the floor. It is ideal for those people living in small spaces (like in New York City) &/or people who don't have much closet space, such as in older homes, apartments, RV's and boats.
My designs for custom clothing closets are based on the idea of maximizing space while hanging clothes in a way that you can actually see them, unlike traditional closets. I am in the process of creating a marketing brochure for my closets and plan to reach out to home builders, boat & RV manufacturers and large apartment management companies who could offer custom closets to their clients as a value added service. I have already approached one home manufacturer and they are interested in seeing my brochure. These closets are not "built In" but are stand-alone, portable closets that clients can take with them when they move. The advantage is that they are customized and less expensive than traditional armoires and other furniture and closet alternatives. In some cases, clients will even be able to hang a piece of art on top of their shoe or jewelry closet, concealing it from view and adding to the aesthetics of their home!
I need $20,000 to launch my custom business on a larger scale. This cost includes $5700 for the first run of 600 pairs of jeans (for men and women), $1200 in working capital for the non-denim custom clothing line, $5,000 for sales & marketing expenses, including the completion of my web site and search engine functionality, $3,100 for research, development and the building of several prototypes of custom closets and $5,000 for 3 months of business overhead while re-launching the business. I will also rename the business to change from being a tee shirt and jeans store to a custom jeans, clothing and closets store.
I have samples of all products to show potential investors, upon receipt of a signed non-compete agreement.