Spring for real

It's a stunning day. A spring day! The Japanese Plum tree outside my home had first blossomed over a week ago but with the cold and snow it just didn't feel like spring yet. Well look at it now!

Counterfeit Fashion in the Mall!

Well not in Oakridge Mall. Today's Vancouver Sun article covered a police raid in West Vancouver mall Park Royal (north or south side, who knows?). The store had some balls to sell Abercrombie and Fitch products out of a store called "Expressions Style Wear" for half the regular price! I wonder how many people bought A&F stuff from the store. You'd think most people would be able to pick up on the fairly obvious clues... or one would hope! The fellow merchants that shared the wing of the mall were pretty much screwed for the day. The police had shut down the entire mall section from 11AM to 3PM.

I'm not down with counterfeiting at all. I'm proud to say that at all of my stores that I've never considered doing a fake anything. Doing retail is tough, I understand that the pressures are immense for some retailers. Once you go down the path of fake things then you've hurt any credibility you had or ever will have. Mind you, there will always be people who believe something is fake. I was in Coach and this lady was demanding her money back because she believed her bag was fake. Yes lady, the Coach store will sell you a fake bag. Not impossible but not likely.

You're all probably expecting me to talk about a store in the Oakridge Mall that everyone believes sells fake things. Yes, we've had queries about "that" store from their customers and even vendors about their product mix. However, I won't talk much about them as it's really their decision to do these things. It'll come around soon enough.

Vancouver Olympic Mascots are very Tokidoki

Vancouver recently unveiled it's Olympic mascots. There's a bear (I swear it was an eagle), Sasquatch and an orca. There was a poll immediately done and over half the respondents didn't like them. I saw the designer on TV and thought she was young. She was really nervous being interviewed. Can you imagine working so hard on something and immediately after showing your work being told that more than 50% of people didn't like your designs? I felt bad for her.

Many of the respondents thought they looked like Japanese anime. They do have a cuteness about them that doesn't seem to originate from Vancouver. My experience with the Tokidoki frenzy of last year immediately made me think of their designs. You can probably pick out a few characters on the right that look similar to the mascots.

I like our mascots! When you look at some of the previous Olympic mascots you'll even appreciate ours even more. On the left is the 2006 Torino mascots... a snowball and a block of ice.

All this mascot talk is making me think that the store should get one too. Perhaps it should be a dog, plush toy, Britney... Something fun!

Like a fashion blog sweatshop

Okay I recognize I have a Project Runway problem. I really should be writing about the fashion that's going on at the store. A lot of items have arrived in the store this week. So without further ado, here's a big picture post of what's in the Tru Drama store now!

The first reorder of Christian Audigier has already come in and sold out. The velour tunic and panther hoodie have just arrived today. These are new to the store and not a reorder, they won't stay long.
The Panther hoodie was an early season favourite. This reorder was very hard to come by.
I don't get much chance to talk about Lady Dutch clothing but the picture on the right clearly shows that it really doesn't need any help. Satin straight leg pants paired with a satin trimmed cap sleeve jersey top with a chain detail in the back. It's one of my favourite lines.

My test order of Akademiks came this week. The zip jackets are examples of what this fun line is all about.
Despite poor lighting, horrible backgrounds and my sad camera skills, Ed Hardy Intimates can do no wrong. They look fab on the mannequins. I had tried to convince one of the girls to model them but modesty (and their good sense) won out in the end. We did manage to put them in the window though. I hope to scandalize my frumpy neighbors! An ideal gift for yourself or smart suggestion for your companion during these holiday times!
Sweatpants! This is something I should have mentioned sooner. Ed Hardy Sweatpants is the first part of our holiday order. They'll give you that edgy look while doing yoga next to those Lulu soccer moms. The rest of the holiday order should be arriving shortly.

Vancouver Weather. Figure it out, it's fall!

This is crazy. Forecast for the week was all about rain in Vancouver. Instead we probably had some of the nicest weather this fall. Which illustrates an old belief of mine that the fashion retail business is always first and foremost affected by weather.

Whenever business is slower than normal, I always think about what may be the cause.

1. Competition? Nope, everyone seems slow whether you're in a mall or on the street.
2. US dollar? If I was in the business of Plasma Screen TVs I'd be worried.
   
3. Merchandise Mix? Last week when it rained we had a record week.
   
4. Staff? My team is the best!
   

Nope it's all about whether it's raining or shining. It's not that people are all out enjoying the sun. Rather it's people not being in the right frame of mine to be getting the season's fashions. It's hard when people are still walking around in flip flops on tuesday!

Vancouver night clubs are stupid

My dear cosmopolitan city of Vancouver, just when I think of how proudly progressive she is, I find this: Some downtown Vancouver nightclubs are not allowing certain brands to be worn in their Clubs. It sounds like they're targeting men who are wearing expensive print shirts. Too bad guys! Just when you've gotten enough nerve to wear that Ed Hardy "love kills slowly" top, the man is shuttin' you down! I haven't heard any incidents with girls but you never know.

It's all pretty stupid for any club to limit what their customers are wearing. It's supposed to cut down on gang activity in their clubs. I think it's a PR stunt so that the clubs can be perceived to be doing something about the violence that often spills out of their doors in the wee hours of the morning. Even the police when hearing of this policy thought it was inappropriate to discriminate by dress. To paraphrase the officer, "We have a list of names of gang members not a list of clothing brands."

Girls you know when you go to a club you want to be decked out in your finest. So it seems silly that a club owner would want you to show up at the door with in a totally blank black outfit!

Welcome!

Hi All! For modesty sake, I'll refer to myself "M". I know it's a bit dramatic but when you run a store it's a neccesity! Anyways, I run a little fashion boutique in Oakridge Centre in Vancouver called Tru Drama. Everyone believes that having your own clothing store is a dream job. In many ways it is but at the same time it's loads of work.

I've started this blog to give everyone a small window into our world.

The picture is when we first opened the store 2 years ago. It's changed a lot since then!