I am thrilled to be back from a long "Let's Get Local" hiatus. I have so many fab features in the works and cannot wait to share some of the incredible women in business with you all. Today's spotlight is on the darling Stacey the beautiful and savvy shop owner of Flair Bridal in Boston's ritzy Back Bay neighborhood. I first met this lovely lady at this event and was so happy that she was willing to give us a peak inside her life, the pretty world of weddings she works in daily and let us get to know her a little bit better.
Tell us a little about Stacey, the gal behind the dress boutique, i.e. where you grew up, what you like to do on your free time, personal style in fashion or home decor, guilty pleasures etc.
I grew up in
Northern California, in a small suburb of Sacramento! I have lived in New
England for 13 years....I came out to the Boston area to go to college at U
Mass Lowell and play Division II Field Hockey and decided that this was where I
belonged and decided to stay forever!
Hum...what
do I like to do in my free time???? I don't have free time! J/K. I
love going out to eat with my husband and our friends, watching sports,
reading, and going to the beach in Swampscott in the summer! As for
personal style, it totally depends on the day, but you can probably find me in
tailored classic looks. I mean I am always on the hunt for the
perfect pair of jeans and white tee if I am not in that then I am usually in a
colorful dress!
My guilty
pleasure is a pretty easy one to guess...it's dresses. I have a problem,
most would call it an addiction. I own over 65 dresses and counting.
Who knows what's coming from Fed Ex today!
Home decor
is a tough one for me...my husband's grandmother is an amazing artist and we
have a ton of her bright paintings all over our apartment. That
really brings the color into our space and then we have very muted furniture,
lots of grey darker wood and the most amazing small sectional couch. It is my
favorite piece of furniture because the fabric reminds me of a nice
men's suit!
What
made you want to open up your own shop and what are some of the services you
provide to your customers?
So the funny thing is 3 years ago I was given
the opportunity to buy Flair from the original owner Christine while I was
working at Flair as one of the managers. My husband is a entrepreneur and we
both were super passionate about the bridal industry and small businesses. It
made sense for us to be able to buy a store I already knew so much about and
loved. We were given the opportunity to help grow the store and build a bigger
name for the store and our brands.
I have always wanted it to be a shop that you could
come into and feel like you are welcome and not judged! At Flair you should
feel like you are shopping in your best friends closet...it just happens to
full of bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses!
It is a really fun shopping experience because
we all really want to know about you and your vision for you wedding. We are
here to put the whole look together. I always say to girls I want to make sure
both the bride + bridal party look like they are all going to the same
wedding, That is what we are here for! We are experts on each and every dress
in the store i.e. I have seen it tried on tons of body types
and know who it will look best on and in what setting. It is easy to just pick
a pretty dress on a model from a website, I mean they all look great, but
talking to the bride + bridesmaids and finding out what they really love to
wear is our specialty!
How
would you describe your typical day at Flair?
It is pretty
busy all the time. We start the day with e-mailing and phone
calls...super intriguing and different! Then throughout the day
I take appointments with brides and bridesmaids and that is the fun
part. Hearing about each and every girls wedding and the vision they
have for the wedding and hoping that we can turn that into reality. Mot
of my job is following up with brides and wrangling bridesmaids to pick the
dress and order it etc. Every day is different, I never know who is going
to walk through the door and I love that!
What
accomplishment are you most proud of to date & or what's the best advice
you received when starting your own business?
I am really proud of the fact that I was able to
expand our staff over the past two years to a full-time manager and five part-time
employees that I love dearly. I am so proud of them each and every day. I feel
very lucky to be surrounded by strong, smart women on a daily basis. I am also so
excited that I was able to expand our store last year from a tiny 600 sq ft office
to a 1200 square foot beautiful space at 140 Newbury Street and adding 3 bridal
gown designers to our collection!
The best piece of advice I have ever heard, is
to take all of your reviews with a grain of salt. Don't ever get too down on
yourself if you hear something negative and don't get overly confident about
glowing reviews. Just do your best!
Living &
working in Boston you must have some secret gems in our beloved city. What are
some of your favorite spots to dine, shop or visit?
I am totally
a Back Bay Girl, I love shopping on Newbury at No Rest For
Bridget {perfect for a quick cute top or 10} and
LuLu's {for all the accessories you could ever need and more}.
It is not a good thing that they are next door to each other and on my
walk home! I also love Pinkyotto, they have the
most adorable dresses and could always use more because I obviously
have a shortage of dresses ;)
As far as
food goes I am loving Zocalo in the Back Bay for the amazing Tamales
and Tangierino in
Charlestown for some cool atmosphere and the best food ever, I think I suggest
going there every night!
Want more of
this adorable gal, check out this awesome video below for a peak inside the
shop!
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