“Store Spotlight” is a mini project we work on here in Roni Rabl where we showcase our stores and their owners, with the goal in mind to learn and share about how to make a fashion store successful.
And today we’re featuring Seattle’s Istina
Q. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
A. Favorite ice cream was Ben and Jerry’s Banana and Peanut Butter (when I still ate ice cream).
Q. What’s your birth date?
A. February 21st.
Q. What made you become a store owner?
A. Freedom. I come from an Interior Design/Textile Design background and was doing high stress transportation design (767 and 747 airplanes) and needed a more creative outlet. After 25 years at the store, it still seems like a vacation in comparison. I was a misfit in the corporate world.
Q. What is the most important tip you can give someone who is about to open a store?
A. Besides being a business opportunity, opening your own store should be a love project. It’s a chance to do what you really want to do – to carry the kind of merchandise you love and would wear yourself. Appreciate your customers–they’re your lifeline– and look forward to having some really interesting people come into your life. Don’t go into business underfunded. Running out of money is very stressful. Hopefully you’ll make lots of money but probably not in the first couple of years. Be patient.
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