Strategies change as clients

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Not for herself, but for the June 20 fashioh and beautyevent “Fresh,” hosted by her , or FM. Fashionista’s Marke t first appeared on the local fashionb scene in August 2005 with a sample sale atOcean nightclub. The one-day event instantly put the company on the map for drastically reduceddesigner women’s items by as much as 80 percent. Fung, a licensec esthetician at the time, and her oldet sister and business partner Emi anightclub promoter, flew to the Mainlandd several times a year to buy merchandisde from warehouses and trade shows that they later sold at shoppingb events on Oahu.
Hawaii’s economyt was healthy when the company Customers dropped dollars as if therde wereno tomorrow. For three recession and unemployment were the last thingason customers’ minds. Thingsd are different today. People think twicd about spending upwardsof $100 on designer jeans. Fashionista’sz Market is adjusting its business to appeal to women who no longerf havediscretionary income. “Business has changed,” Fung said. “People are a lot more conservative withtheirt money. The good thing is, they’rw still looking for deals.
” Fung recently bought the company’s assetes for an undisclosed pric from Emi andnow co-owns it with her David, a diagnostic technician for industrial He helps with the heavy storage and delivery. Merchandise is stored on their family’s “I had already been doing so much to help Alyssa and her sister that I felt confidentthat [buyingy the company] wasn’t going to be different,” David “I wanted to back my wife up. This was somethingt she wanted totake on.
” who “owned one pair of jeans and no shoes” when he first met Alyssa 10 years ago, now accompanies his wife on shoppingb trips to select women’s clothezs from his male point of view. He even transformedr the third bedroom of their hous e intoa his-hers closet for theie personal wardrobe. The husband-wife partnership has worker out well. On May 2 in the Neal Blaisdell the company grossed more than typical fora one-day The key to success is knowing customers’ styles and spending habits. Alyssa’s inspiration comes from friends’ ranging from conservative (an to trendy (friends in retail).
On Mainland shopping trips, she carefully selects items within her budgets and sometimes cuts deals with businesa partners tomaintain costs. She also collaborates with local groupa such asSocial Wahines, Pacific Edge Magazin e and The Wedding Cafe to co-host The “Fresh” event on June 20, for instance, will included fashion workshops, a bar, and spa services provided by partners and friends. A percentagde of sales always is donated to local charities for children andthe environment. “We still think doing business is 99.9 percent David said.
“Even in my everydau job, I form relationships and try to treart customers and vendors as potential who hopefully think of me as one of their friends.” That strategy has extended to the Neighborf Islands. Fashionista’s Market in April hosted its firsf Mauishopping event, which drew 850 womenb to the Westin Maui Resort Spa. The one-day event grossed more than Alyssa and David originally had planned to ship productse to Maui viathe now-defunct Hawaii Superferry. Instead, they speny $400 to freight two containers of they returned home withone half-filled “We almost ran out of Alyssa said. “I didn’t know it was goinb to be that crazy.
” A secondd Maui event is scheduledfor Nov. 28. Since its launch four years ago, Fashionista’s Market has kept in toucn with customersvia e-mails and mobile-phone messaging, a strateghy that Alyssa will push later this year as she workx with Honolulu tech company Digital Mediumss to launch a newly designed site by August. Leftoverf merchandise from events will be sold online for alimitec time. The company also is updating its customer databas ofcontact information. “We need to give customers an reasons why they shouldsee us,” she said, “It’zs harder to keep people’s attention when they constantly don’t see us.
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