Laura Vinroot Poole discusses the challenges facing small retailers reopening amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
—even before the crisis we were buying things that were more down-to-earth. You could wear everything in the store barefoot.” As she prepared for reopening day, Vinroot Poole was confident of two things: the importance of flexibility—adapting to shifting social distancing rules, for instance—and her conviction about selling merchandise at full price.
“We had a couple of people try to price match with us during quarantine, and I thought, Really? We’re trying to keep our workers employed and our lights on,” she says. Some of the department stores and e-commerce sites are already putting spring clothes on sale, but she says, “we’re holding strong as long as we can. I’m also the buyer, and the amount of travel we do to get all these things here is enormous to put it on sale too early.
Avoiding the seasonal sales cycle is a lesson she learned in the Great Recession, as is the value of customer relationships. “I’ve weirdly felt grateful for 2008 to 2013, living through all this,” Vinroot Poole says. “It didn’t really get better for a long time, and our business really changed through that. We did a lot of drop-offs, taking things to people’s homes. We’ve done that these last two months more than ever.
All in all, says Vinroot Poole, “it was a big Saturday for us. We did way more business than I thought we would.” Days after North Carolina relaxed its stay-at-home rules, coronavirus cases appear to be on the rise, but the infection rate remains more than 10 times lower than that of New York, the country’s hardest hit state. “For me, the important thing is making sure the public feels like it’s a safe space,” she says of the airy store.
The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Denise Richards, Laura Prepon and Valerie Bertinelli's tips for Mother's Day in quarantine'On Mother’s Day, I want all of our screens to go away and for us to just be a family,' says 'OITNB' actress Laura Prepon.
Read more »
Jenna Bush Hager Honors Laura Bush with Sweet Mother's Day Tribute: She 'Taught Me How to Be a Mom'Jenna Bush Hager also shared an image of the former first lady proudly holding one of her grandchildren
Read more »
Anti-lockdown protesters seen carrying weapons inside North Carolina sandwich shopA group of armed demonstrators protesting North Carolina's stay-at-home order visited a Raleigh restaurant this weekend, weapons slung over their shoulders, and were captured in photographs that went viral.
Read more »
Massachusetts ice cream shop closes one day after reopening amid coronavirus over patrons harassing workersThe owner of a Massachusetts ice cream parlor closed its doors just one day after reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic in response to how angry customers mistreated a teenage employee.
Read more »
Look inside socially distanced Shanghai Disneyland, reopened with masks, temperature checks and spaced out linesShanghai Disneyland is the first Disney park to reopen since the Covid-19 pandemic. Here's what it looked like on opening day.
Read more »
Shanghai Disneyland Reopens With Strict COVID-19 ControlsIt's the first of Disney's parks to reopen since the pandemic began.
Read more »