Professional Portfolio

Professional Portfolio

Professional
Portfolio

WRITTEN BY: GEMAE DAMBROSIO

PREPARED FOR: DR. PRISCILLA BERRY

PROFESSSIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... ....... 2
Report on the Clothing Retail Industry ................................................................... ......... 3
Industry Contribution to GDP ........ ......................................................................... ........ 3
Labor Growth and Diversity ..................................................................................... ....... 3
Technology Data .................................................................................... .............. ...... 4
Ethical Issues ........ ................................................................................................ .... .... 4
Legal Issues .......................................................................................................... ....... 5
Globalization ............................................................................... ................. ................ 5
The Copper Closet ........ .............................................................................. ................. ........ 7
Brief History .......................................................................................... .............. ........ 7
Financial Data .................................................................................................. ................. 7
Workforce ........................................................................................................ ................. 8

Evaluate and Critique the Website.................................................................. .................. 8

Mission Statement ...................................................................................... ................. ..... 11

Chain of Command ........................................................................................ ................. 11

Interview with Danielle Dallas ............................................................................. ............... . 12

Writing Samples ...................................................................................................... ......... 16
Sample 1 ...... ................................................................................................. ........ 16
Sample 2 ............................................................................................... ................. 18
Sample 3 ........................................................................................... ... ......... ... 20
Sample 4 ............................................................................................ ............... 22

Sample 5 ....................................................................................................................... 23
Conclusion ............................................................................................................... .............. 25

Thank You Note .......................................................................................... ......................... 26

References .......................................................................................................................... 27

Appendix 1......................................................................................................... ................. 29

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Executive Summary
The objective of this portfolio is to analyze the health, growth, and the legal and ethical issues of
the clothing retail industry. For more insight about the industry, I interviewed Danielle Dallas,
who is the founder and CEO of The Copper Closet, regarding her experience as a professional in
the world of retail.

My research showed that the clothing retail industry is growing exponentially, which is also the
leading reason why many companies in the industry have turned to unethical and unsustainable
practices. There is progress being made towards this problem, but it is far from being solved.
Another problem that the industry is currently struggling with is the lack of foot traffic in large
brick and mortar stores. Most of the revenue in clothing retail is coming from ecommerce and
department stores are slowly failing. As an alternative to large department stores, customers are
now enjoying the experience of going into smaller boutiques, and because of this I have
confirmed that becoming a buyer for a boutique would be a promising career choice for myself.

Report on the Clothing Retail Industry

Industry Contribution to GDP

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The retail industry as a whole contributes around $904 billion dollars to the GDP of the United
States, making it the sixth largest industry in this country (Benjamin, 2017). In 2019, the clothing
retail industry produced around $191 billion for the U.S. economy (O’Connell, 2020).

Figure 1 Figure 2
Figure 1 and 2 from : https://www.statista.com/statistics/289783/us-retail-apparel-store-sales-on-a-monthly-basis/

Labor Growth and Diversity

Although, clothing retail is doing well in sales, big retail companies are currently struggling in
keeping their brick and mortar stores open. Customers are more inclined to shop for clothes,
shoes, and accessories online instead of going into a store’s actual location. As a result, store

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locations have decreased over the last couple of years which also means that employment for
retail has gone down. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the retail industry
will experience a 2% in the next ten years (Retail Sales Workers, 2019). As of 2018 though, it
was counted that 16.8 million people were working in the clothing retail industry. The most
common positions being cashiers, sales representatives, supervisors, and stockers/fillers. Males
make up 50.7% of the workforce and make 1.49 times more than females (Data USA: Retail
Trade).

Technology Data
Technology can both be a challenge and an advancement in the clothing retail industry. It is a
challenge for the retailers who are not updating their e-commerce sites and improving it, but it is
an advancement for those who are using it properly. At the end of 2018, the top online apparel
retailers experienced an 18.5% growth in sales, which is more than triple the growth of regular
in-store apparel sales (Berthene, 2019). Online stores and technology are currently driving the
success of the retail industry and for retailers to remain competitive in the market, they have to
think of how they can make their online stores visually pleasing as well as easily accessible.
Even if it is an online store, retailers still need to think about their customer’s shopping
experience. The more they pay attention to this, the more customers they will attract.

Ethical Issues in the Clothing Retail Industry

In clothing retail, the main ethical issue being talked about is sustainability. Every year, more
than 16 million tons of textile waste are produced in the United States alone (Elven, 2019). The
damage that the clothing and fashion industry produces has caught the attention of the public,
and because of that consumers are now demanding clothing retailers to change their practices.
Since this started retail companies have made progress towards sustainability, but it is not by
much. At the beginning of 2019, only 1% of clothing have been considered sustainable. The goal
of top clothing retailers right now is to have at least fifty percent of their merchandise be
sustainable by 2025 (Cheng, 2019).

Another issue that is getting attention is the culture of fast fashion. Fast fashion also relates to
sustainability, but it relates more to the negative impacts of producing clothing too quickly and

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too much. In efforts to keep up with fashion trends, retailers overproduce and overstock their
stores with the incorrect amount of merchandise, leaving many unsold. These unsold products
then end up in discount stores, and eventually in landfills where they are either incinerated or just
left there.

Legal Issues in the Clothing Retail Industry

The fashion industry has expanded exponentially, but with that expansion, it has become
significantly more challenging to regulate and keep track of the companies that are heavily
polluting the environment. In her article, Why Regulations aren’t Solving the Fashion Industry’s
Environmental Problem, sustainable fashion blogger, Ashley Lauren states that, “We’re no
longer in an age where we have control over the standards in our small geographic radius; we’re
in a global economy with millions of cogs in the fashion production wheel” (Lauren, 2020).
Currently, many fast-fashion retailers manufacture their clothes in underdeveloped countries
where there is very little to no organizational structure, so retail companies can keep producing
clothes without worrying about labor and environmental laws. Lauren further discusses that these
companies are not held responsible legally because most regulations about pollution in the
fashion industry are voluntary, and there are no serious penalties to those who refuse to join and
follow the regulations The only solution to this legal issue is for customers to keep pushing retail
companies to be more environmentally friendly, and maybe even start a global fashion trend
revolving around the idea of environmentally friendly clothing (Lauren, 2020).

Globalization and its effect on the Clothing Retail Industry

Major clothing retail stores source and manufacture products from other countries, and some
even have international retail locations. Globalization used to be seen in a much more positive
light, but after some time has passed, that has changed. Some positives and negatives of
globalization are as listed below:

Positive Impacts Negative Impacts

 allows people from all over the  it is difficult to keep track of supply
world have access to different chain overseas
clothing brands

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 creates jobs in developing countries
 cheaper costs for products
can remain competitive in the
market
The Copper Closet:
Brief History
 sourcing overseas = higher
transportation costs and emits more
gases into the atmosphere
 cheap costs also mean lower labor
standards
 local vendors/manufacturers lose
business opportunities
 if a situation like the corona virus
happens that prevents overseas
travel and transportation, products
cannot be delivered or produced
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Danielle Dallas founded The Copper Closet in September of 2015 after working various
positions in retail over the years. The women’s clothing and accessories boutique started out
online and it eventually grew to a point where it was possible to open a physical location.
Ms. Dallas opened her first location on September 9th, 2016, a little over a year after starting the
Copper Closet. Fast forward to April 2020, Copper Closet now has 10 locations in Florida, 2 in
South Carolina, and 1 location in Georgia (Pillsbury, 2018).

Figure 3 The Copper Closet location in Tallahassee, FL

Source: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-copper-closet-tallahassee

Boutiques make up only a small part of the clothing retail industry, but it has its own charm that
attracts customers. The charm of boutiques like The Copper Closet is that it sells clothes that
have a distinct style and cannot be found in regular department stores. Instead of just being a
store, a boutique acts as a personal stylist and teaches their customers the basics of creating their
own style. Boutiques give their customers inspiration, and through that they are able to gain a
following and become successful in the clothing retail industry (Alderson, 2018).

The Copper Closet’s Financial Data

Since the Copper Closet is a privately held company, I had to ask Ms. Dallas about her
company’s financial data. In the fiscal year 2017, Copper Closet had a gross revenue of $1.061
million, and the net income was $970, 0000. In 2018, the gross revenue was $3.405 million, net
income was $3 million. The year after that, Copper Closet’s gross revenue grew to $6.171

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million, and its net income was at $5.3 million (Dallas, 2020).

Figure 4: The Copper Closet’s Income Statement

Year Gross Revenue ($ M) Net Income Net Profit Margin Employees
2017 $1.061 $970, 000 9.14% 40
2018 $3.405 $3,000, 000 8.81% 147
2019 $6.171 $5,300,000 8.59% 300
Source: (Dallas, 2020)

One of Copper Closet’s top competitors is Francesca’s Collections. Francesca’s is also in the
women’s clothing boutique category and last year, the company’s revenue was at $15.64 million
(Mill, 2020).

Workforce
According to Ms. Dallas, it was difficult to count the number of employees that work in Copper
Closet in a given year because many are coming and going. A majority of employees in the
Copper Closet are college students and because of that, there are many who leave when college
work becomes overwhelming (Dallas, 2020).

Evaluation and Critique of Website

The Home page of the Copper Closet is filled with information. Along with the tabs on the top of
the screen, there is also a slide show that displays current sales, new arrivals, swim wear
promotion, brand ambassador hiring flyer, and a promotion for their online vintage collection. I
do like how they are informing their customer as soon as they get on the website, but I think
smaller images would be better. The promotional images take up too much screen space and part
of the images are even cut off.

Figure 5: The Copper Closet Promotional Slides found in Home tab

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Figure 6: The Copper Closet Promotional Slides in Home tab

Figure 7: The Copper Closet Promotional Slides in Home tab

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.
If these images were smaller, then customers can scroll less and easily see the other content
listed below. As I scroll down the home tab, I see that Copper closet’s special shipping prices.
They offer a flat rate for every day, which is important to emphasize since that is not seen on
most online stores. Usually online retailers offer free shipping over a certain amount, but flat rate
shipping is different. It was a nice touch to advertise that in the home page.

Figure 8: The Copper Closet Shipping Rate

I explored the website more and discovered that the flat rate shipping tab is found in all of the

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pages, but it is placed more towards the bottom of the page. I like how the website designer
chose to emphasize the shipping rates throughout the entire webpage.

The final component of the website that appealed to me was the Instagram gallery at the very
bottom of the home page. It is simple but it displays different looks that can catch the eyes of the
person who is shopping. The gallery is also a slide show that rotates every few seconds, so the
shopper is able to quickly scan different outfit ideas. If they are interested in a piece, they can
easily reach Copper Closet’s Instagram page by clicking on the image and the item’s price and
other information is tagged on the image itself. By doing this, shoppers can easily buy the item
that they like.

Figure 9: The Copper Closet link to Instagram

Sources of all website pictures: https://thecoppercloset.com/

Mission Statement
Before Danielle Dallas founded the Copper Closet, she noticed that clothing boutiques for young
women were too expensive. As a 21-year-old, she could not afford items in most boutiques and
many times she would leave a store without buying anything (Garwood, 2019). This situation
sparked her motivation to start her own boutique.

“We want affordable boutique shopping to be an option for all of our customers

because we find that typically it is not.”

- Danielle Dallas and Co-Founder Ryan Dallas
(Pillsbury, 2018)

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Ms. Dallas has stayed true to her original goal because even today, all of the items in The Copper
Closet are priced under $50.

Chain of Command
Important names:
CEO and Founder: Danielle Dallas
Co-Founder and President: Ryan Viti
Vice President: Tayla Randhergsd

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Interview with Danielle Dallas

The current situation with COVID-19 made it difficult
for an in-person interview, but Ms. Dallas was kind
enough to agree on a short phone interview. She also
agreed to answer any additional questions I might have
had through e-mail. From my short interview, I learned
how Ms. Dallas gained the skills that she needed to start
her own boutique, and I gained additional insight on how it
would be like working in clothing retail.

Ms. Dallas did not plan on working in retail from the start. Her original plan was to work her
way up in the health industry by starting out as a Certified Nurse’s Assistant after graduating
from high school, but after applying to about forty CNA positions with no success, she had to
reassess her plans. She decided that she would go back to school to earn an associate degree
while working part-time. In 2014, Ms. Dallas was hired as a sales specialist for Victoria’s Secret
while she took graphic design classes at Santa Fe college in Gainesville. After a year and a half,
she then moved on to working as a Visual Merchandise Manager at a Charming Charlie’s store
in Gainesville. Her manager retired and closed the store, so she had to apply for a new position.
Ms. Dallas found a small boutique, Blue Spero, and she was hired as a manager for a new store
location. She said that she learned valuable skills when she started working at Blue Spero
because she had to do most of everything herself. On the first day of her job, she was in charge
of hiring staff and getting her store ready for business. This meant that she had to arrange the
merchandise and put looks together for the mannequins. Her experience as a visual merchandiser
at Charming Charlie’s was put to use right away.

When Ms. Dallas started working for Blu Spero Boutique in the second half of 2015, she had
already started preparing to start The Copper Closet. “I started Copper Closet while working at
Blu Spero and spent a year saving up and buying inventory that I stashed in my bedroom before I
opened the first store” (Dallas, 2020). Six months in working at Blue Spero and starting Copper
Closet, Ms. Dallas accepted a different job working as a visual manager for Altar’d State in
hopes of gaining more experience. She worked at Altar’d State for about nine months, but then

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she decided that it would be best if she put all her time and focus on Copper Closet because it
was growing so quickly. In the second half of 2016, Ms. Dallas moved to Jacksonville to open
the first brick and mortar location of The Copper Closet. Because of this she had to drop out of
her graphic design program a semester before graduation, but due to a change of graduation
requirements, she still received an associate degree certificate.

I asked Ms. Dallas about what her past interviews were like before she started working for
herself. “Before I had any experience, it was very challenging,” but after gaining enough
experience, she got all the positions that she applied for (Dallas, 2020). She explained that for a
person to have a successful interview, they have to be in the right mental state. “You have to be
calm, charismatic. Try to make them laugh, and have proper etiquette Eye contact, ask follow up
questions, ask them questions about themselves or the position, and dress properly” (Dallas,
2020). Ms. Dallas especially emphasized the importance of being prepared for questions and
answering them properly. She shared with me that in her interview for Altar’d State, she was
asked to answer questions with multiple parts to it. It was difficult to her to remember all the
parts, but she still sounded professional because she put in her best effort in answering the ones
that she could remember. Since it would be unprofessional to ask the interviewer to repeat all her
questions, it is best to move forward with what you are able to answer (Dallas, 2020).

Ms. Dallas’ work week is never the same because one day she might be in the main office
talking to her marketing and management department about upcoming sales, trends, and deciding
what items need to go in clearance, but then another day could be going on shoots for Copper
Closet’s Instagram page. Ms. Dallas is in charge of anything that relates to visuals. She pays
close attention to marketing graphics, plans Instagram posts, and on a bigger scale, she also
oversees the visual merchandising of all the Copper Closet franchises. Using her experience as a
lead Visual Merchandiser in multiple boutiques, Ms. Dallas closely discusses how store
managers can improve the look of their location.

The second set of tasks that Ms. Dallas spends the most time doing is buying, pricing, and
allocating products. Outside of jewelry and accessories, Ms. Dallas is the person in charge of
selecting the merchandise that goes into the stores and making sure that the right kind of

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products go in the right stores. According to her, she finds this part of her job the most enjoyable.
“I personally enjoy buying the best, it's like shopping for living basically & who wouldn't want
to do that?” (Dallas, 2020).

I am interested in becoming a buyer in the future, so I asked her to share more about what the
buying process is like. Ms. Dallas described buying as “very methodical.” First, she has to look
at each store’s inventory and what kind of items need to be filled. If a store only needs dresses,
then she would only buy that and wait until the other items run low. Then, once she has a list of
what she needs, she will go ahead and look for vendors that carry the kind of products that she is
envisioning. Once she selects the vendor, then the negotiation starts. “I have to ensure we always
have a 70%+ margin which is the hardest part, since we're affordable I have to really find the
good deals.” Ms. Dallas tries to convince vendors to sell at a low price by buying in bulk. “Some
vendors I work with, I can negotiate with directly and say, ‘I can only pay $6 for this top but I'll
buy 200 of them” (Dallas, 2020).

According to Ms. Dallas a good buyer needs to “know their customer.” They also have to be
“confident and decisive” in whatever they decide. She said that if there is even a part of yourself
that is saying “no,” it is most likely for the best to follow it and move on (Dallas, 2020).

Ms. Dallas considers “dealing with day to day complaints, employees, and disciplining” to be the
most challenging part of her job. She explains that she does not like having to fire employees, or
even writing them up. Most of the time, she does not have to handle this part of the job because
her husband, who is also the President of Copper Closet, or store managers addresses it before
she does. This also correlates to crisis management in Copper Closet. Ms. Dallas stated that
problems consists of employees not showing up to work, customer’s stealing, and in rare cases,
customer’s trying to get compensation for a fake injury (Dallas, 2020).

According to Ms. Dallas, “communication is great as far as things getting done, following up,
getting an honest opinion, managers trusting me. However, there's always stuff I can work on”
(Dallas, 2020). When communicating with some of her employees, she sometimes finds herself
losing patience and that affects how she handles a situation. As for employee evaluation,

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currently there is no system in place in Copper Closet for any kind of assessment, but there is
open communication between the CEO, upper management, and other employees (Dallas, 2020).

Towards the end of the interview, I asked Ms. Dallas about the sources she references to keep up
with news and trends in the fashion industry. She said that she mainly uses social media and
reports from other vendors. “I think who you follow on social media helps a lot to see new and
emerging trends. I also follow a lot of other retailers to see what they are selling, and our vendors
go to market and tell us what performed the best so that helps too” (Dallas, 2020).

My final question to Ms. Dallas was: What advice would she give a student who is interested in
becoming a buyer for a boutique? Ms. Dallas did not sugarcoat her answer and directly told me
that becoming a successful buyer “is possibly one of the hardest jobs to get in the entire world.
No one just gets a buying job; you have to work your way into that usually.” She also said,
“[buyers] sell items that people are excited to wear, so buyers need to be excited to get dressed
up every day. They need to be truly passionate about fashion, not just someone looking for a
paycheck” (Dallas, 2020).

Overall, my short conversation with Ms. Dallas provided me with insight so I know how I can
prepare myself to become a successful buyer in the industry. The interview also acted as a
confirmation that I have made the right decision in pursuing a career in the world of retail.

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Writing Samples
Business Writing Example 1

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This sample of writing is structured just like a White Paper. It is a soft sell advertisement for the
ecommerce marketing services of Privy. At first, the author of the post, Hallie Burton starts out
by providing background information on what Copper Closet is without even mentioning Privy,
but as soon as the introduction paragraph, the Burton proceeded to discuss the benefits of using
Privy. I did notice a problem in the execution of this “soft” sell advertisement. There was not a
section that discussed the initial problem, that Privy is trying to solve. It would have been more
effective, if the writer outlined a general rundown of marketing problems first, then follow it by
proposing Privy as a possible solution.

The rest of the article meets the requirements of a white paper because Burton does keep his
paragraphs relatively short and concise. She does acknowledge that Privy costs some money and

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that it is not the only technology out the that companies can use to help their marketing. Burton
also mentions that Copper Closet uses Privy in addition to other platforms, meaning that Privy is
not a stand-alone solution. Even though Burton admits that Privy is lacking by itself, he does
support his opinions about how helpful Privy is by incorporating logos. Burton provided many
numbers that improved because Copper Closet used Privy, and that strongly supports his
argument that Privy is a helpful ecommerce marketing product.

Business Writing Example 2

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This is an example of a modern-day alternative to a business email. Once I asked Ms. Dallas for
possible examples of business writing, she sent me the above screenshot in reply. I was
surprised, but in a good way. I realized that there is room for being “casual” even in a business.

For the most part, Ms. Dallas kept her instructions short and clear. There were no long
paragraphs, and she divided everything in bullets. The language is very casual, and it is exactly
how I would talk with my friends. I see some abbreviations like “lmk” for let me know and the
word “wonky.” I would have never expected for a word like “wonky” to appear from the CEO of
Copper Closet because it is a clothing store that I have looked up to since I discovered it two
years ago. I find it fascinating really. I fully respect Ms. Dallas and I do think that her preference
to a more casual way of communicating makes her brand even more fun and quirky. Overall, I
believe that as long as the message is easily understood and passed around, I do not think that
there is a problem of doing “e-mails” in a form of short texts in chat apps.

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Business Writing Example 3

This sample of writing is a sales e-mail sent as part of Copper Closet’s crisis management after
the COVID-19 pandemic started. To encourage customers and give them something they can feel
happy about, Copper Closet held a flash two-day sale for their entire store.

The design is straightforward, and it highlights the most important information which in this case
is the “ENJOY 40% OFF.” Further down the flyer, there is a little but of pathos included from
the statement “Support your local shops.” The last statement is also a little but of pathos because
it appeals to the emotions of the customers by reassuring them that Copper Closet is keeping its
products clean and it is still safe to purchase their products.

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Business Writing Example 4

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This is an example of a proposal for clients who might be interested in starting their own branch
of The Copper Closet. The goal of this document is to attract and persuade as many clients as
possible, and the writer does that by including logos and comparing Coppers Closet starting costs
to other franchise boutiques.

The writer includes a chart that provides the reader information on how much more affordable
Copper Closet is compared to boutiques like Apricot Lane and Lizard Thicket. After the
comparison chart, the writer then outlined how the cost is broken down. This helps the potential
client understand where their money is going if they do decide to become a franchise owner. I
liked how the parts were easily broken down and it did not take long to scan the entire document.

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If I was looking for a store to franchise, I would give extra points to Copper Closet just for
keeping their explanations brief and easy to read. Overall, it was a well-made proposal that met
its purpose because it did a good job persuading the reader and it also provided key information.

Business Writing Example 5

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This is an example of a press release about the launch of MOD+MKT, Copper Closet’s extension
store that is strictly for furniture and home décor. The press release opens with the basic
information about the new store, where it is going to be located, and what is new about it. The
next section of the press release then discusses the purpose of MOD+MKT. This gives the reader
context and it can make the reader more interested in the article.

The press release was straight to the point, and it provided the reader information on what to
expect about Copper Closet’s new store launch. Overall, the language used was simple and the
content of the entire article answered the five W’s. One critique that I do have is the paragraph
dedicated to Copper Closet’s current locations. In my understanding, a press release should
include content that is mostly newsworthy, but I think the old information about Copper Closet
does not fit in that category.

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Conclusion
The clothing retail industry growing at a fast rate, but the market is doing better online and small
specialty stores like boutiques. Boutiques offer a more personal experience compared to large
department stores, and because of this, businesses like the Copper Closet are prospering.

After interviewing Danielle Dallas, I have learned the key skills that I need to master so I can
become a successful buyer in the industry. According to Ms. Dallas, buying is all about
understanding and pretending what customers will want to wear. A career in buying would mean
that I would have to develop an intuition for what clothes are going to sell, and right now I do
not have that since I lack experience. Ms. Dallas built a successful business without going to
school for fashion buying and merchandising, but she developed her skills from working at
different boutiques. I now realize that all my studying and reading about the fashion industry and
buying needs to be supplemented with actual retail experience as soon as possible, so I can enter
the industry knowledgeable and prepared. Interviewing Ms. Dallas has really put into perspective
on what my future career will look like, and I cannot wait for the day when I actually get to do
what she is doing.

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Thank You Note

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References
Alderson, A. Five Reasons The Boutique Model Is Revolutionizing The Future Of Retail (2018
November 20). Retrieved 8 April 2020 fromhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes
leadershipcollective/2018/11/20/you-thought-this-industry-was-dead-but-its-booming-
heres-why/#598250ed246c

Benjamin, S. The Biggest Industries in the United States. (2017 August 17). Retrieved 3 April
2020 from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-are-the-biggest-industries-in-the-
united-states.html.

Berthene, A. Ecommerce is more than a third of all apparel sales. (2019 July 23). Retrieved 3
April 2020 from https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/article/online-apparel-sales-us/

Cheng, A. More Consumers Want Sustainable Fashion, But Are Brands Delivering It? (2019
October 17). Retrieved 8 April 2020 from https://www.forbes.com
/sites/andriacheng/20/10/17/more-consumers-want-sustainable-fashion-but-are-brands-
delivering-it/#5588a35134a5

Data USA: Retail Trade (n.d). Retrieved 5 April 2020 from https://datausa.io/profile/naics/
retail-trade
Elven, M. Key sustainability trends for 2019: what consumers expect from fashion brands. (2019

April 2). Retrieved 5 April 2020 from https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/key-

sustainability-trends-for-2019-what-consumers-expect-from-fashion-brands/201904
0242509.

Garwood, K. Owner of The Copper Closet went 'all in' to start her business. (2019 August 29).
Retrieved from https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/owner-of-the-copper-closet-went-
all-in-to-start-her-business

Laura, A. Why Regulations aren’t Solving the Fashion Industry’s Environmental Problem. (2019

November 11) Retrieved from https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/why-regulations-

arent-solving-the-fashion-industry-s-environmental-problem-9a50be4c2843

Mill, Fort. Francesca’s Collections Inc. (2020 January 1). Retrieved 8 April 2020 from
https://search-proquest-com.dax.lib.unf.edu/marketresearch/docview
/1860764653//1?accountid=14690

O’Connell, L. Monthly retail sales of U.S. clothing stores from 2017 to 2020 in million U.S.
dollars. (2020 March 18). Retrieved 3 April 2020 from https://www.statista.com

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/statistics/289783/us retail-apparel-store-sales-on-a-monthly-basis/

Pillsbury, G. The Story Behind The Fashion: The Copper Closet. (2018 November 1). Retrieved
8 April 2020 from https://thecoppercloset.com/blog/the-story-behind-the-fashion-the-
copper-closet/

Retail Sales Workers. (2019 September 4). Retrieved 3 April 2020 from https://www.bls.gov
/ooh/sales/retail-sales-workers.htm#tab1

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Appendix 1
Interview with Danielle Dallas, CEO and Founder of The Copper Closet, Danielle Dallas,
Personal Communication, Apr. 2, 2020.

1. Since the Copper Closet is a privately shared company, I could not find any financial
information online. Can you please share what was your revenue, net income, and number of
employees from the past three years?              
Revenue: 2017: $1.061M 2018: $3.405M 2019: $6.171M
Net Income: 2017: $970k 2018: $3M 2019: $5.3M
Number of Employees: So, this is a little different, this is not the number of employees at any
one given time it's the amount of employees we had all year. We have a lot of college aged
employees, so they are constantly moving or leaving because school gets overwhelming. At any
one given time we probably had half that number or less. 2017: 40 2018: 147 2019: 300

2. Could you describe what your Chain of Command is like in your company?
Chain of command is myself, my husband, Ryal Viti, our Vice President Tayla Randhergsd, our
home office staff, our store managers, assistant managers, then key holders. We do not have
sales associates like most stores. Every person who works for us is expected to perform on
management level.

3. After reading a few articles regarding Copper Closet, I learned that you studied graphic
design in college, was that your undergraduate degree? How much does your undergraduate
degree relate to your current position?
I only received an associate’s degree, I actually dropped out a semester before graduation to
move and start Copper Closet, they ended up changing the degree requirements and I got a
diploma in the mail about a year later, so I graduated on accident. When I was in high school, I
got a CNA though, doesn't much relate besides teaching compassion towards people, which does
help!

4. Where have you worked prior to becoming the CEO of Copper Closet? Can you share a
short description of what your past jobs were and how long did you work at each one? 
Victoria Secret - 1.5 years (Full time sales specialist)
Charming Charlie - .5 years (Visual manager)
Blu Spero Boutique - .5 years (Store Manager)
Altar'd State - .75 years. (Visual manager)
I started Copper Closet while working at Blu Spero and spent a year saving up and buying
inventory that I stashed in my bedroom before I opened the first store.

5. Since you are the CEO of your own company, I can’t really ask how the interview process

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at Copper Closet went, but I do want to ask how you prepared for interviews in your previous
retail   jobs? Did you go through long interview processes? 

Not to be too braggy, but I was pretty good at getting interviewed after having my first retail job.
I got every job I applied for in my field after having some experience. Before having any
experience, it was very challenging. Preparing for a job interview is mostly about being in the
right mental state. You have to be calm, charismatic. Try to make them laugh, and have proper
etiquette Eye contact, ask follow-up questions, ask them questions about themselves or the
position, and dress properly.
The last job that I had at Altar'd State I was technically stepping down from a Store Manager to
an ASM but the position I was moving to paid more. I had 3 interviews with 3 different people
and not going to lie one of the ladies was very hard. It was a phone interview, but I was sweating
the entire time. She was older, had been in retail like 30+ years, was very dry, and asked 5-part
questions all at once. It was hard to answer all parts of the question without forgetting parts lol I
got the job though!

6. Can you share how a regular workday goes for you at Copper Closet? What kind of tasks
are the most challenging for you? What are the most enjoyable? 
I work at our home office 3-5 days a week, there I collaborate with our marketing and
management staff on various topics, Sales we're running, holidays coming, inventory, trends,
clearance out of season, etc. I personally buy and enter into the system 90% of the inventory that
comes into our stores. I have to make sure it's priced correctly and is going to the right stores
(not all stores get the same stuff). I personally enjoy buying the best, it's like shopping for living
basically & who wouldn't want to do that?
Most challenging is dealing with day to day complaints, employees, and disciplining. No one
likes having to write up employees, fire people, or field complaints from customers. We
probably only get 1-3 complaints a week between all 13 stores but it's usually always because an
employee is not doing what they should be doing. Then they have to get written up or fired
depending on the severity.

7. Along with being in charge of buying merchandise, what other tasks are part of your day to
day schedule? 
Buying, pricing inventory, allocating inventory, overseeing all marketing graphics, Instagram
planning, overseeing visuals for the entire company, markdowns, I manage our Franchisees
100% by myself, I manage my husband who does all of our financial stuff, employee discipline,
disaster management as of late.

8. When buying merchandise, what is the process like? 

Not as "fun" as you think it's actually very methodical. I have to look at how much inventory
each store actually needs, what they need (tops, bottoms, dresses, home goods, jewelry, game
day, swim) and only buy those items. I have to ensure we always have a 70%+ margin which is
the hardest part, since we're affordable I have to really find the good deals. Some vendors I work
with I can negotiate with directly and say I can only pay $6 for this top but I'll buy 200 of them".

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9. What skills do you think are the most important for an apparel buyer? 
It's important that you know your customer and you are NOT just buying stuff that is your style.
For example, I probably wouldn't wear 50% of the stuff I buy, but I know our customers love it.
You have to be confident and decisive. If you're unsure of something it's probably a "no", but it
never hurts to get a second opinion.

10. How much crisis management is involved in your work? 

I'd say we have some kind of "crisis" almost every day. I'm not always directly handling them.
Our managers or the President take a lot of that but I give them permission to handle the things,
so just hear about it. I mean it's everything from employees not showing up, customers stealing,
we recently had a 90 year old woman fall in our store (she became off balance on her own and is
okay), we've been sued (internet ADA compliant scam lawsuits), have had to fire employees for
drug use. There's a lot of really stressful stuff man.

11. How important is communication in your work?

It's everything. I would say in general my communication is great as far as things getting done,
following up, getting an honest opinion, managers trusting me, However there's always stuff I
can work on like I don't have a ton of patience and that affects the situation.

12. Is there a person that conducts an evaluation on your performance in the company? 
Nope! But I have a very open dialogue with upper management, we're all a pretty tight knit
family and we have virtually no employee turn around as far as upper management goes, and I'd
say that speaks for itself. Obviously, my husband works for me so he tells me when I'm being
crazy or unreasonable so that helps lol

13. What sources do you rely on for news about the retail industry? How do you keep up with
the current trends in fashion?
Pretty much every morning and night around bedtime I'm reading articles about my industry or
what's going on in the world. I think who you follow on social media helps a lot to see new and
emerging trends. I follow a lot of other retailers to see what they are selling. And our vendors go
to market and tell us what performed the best so that helps too.

14. What advice would you give a student interested in becoming a buyer for a boutique? 
This is possibly one of THE hardest jobs to get in the entire world. No one just gets a buying job;
you have to work your way into that usually. The merchandise your company buys 110% is what
makes you successful or a failure, so you have to really build trust to get out into a position
where you basically control if the company succeeds or fails. We're going on 4 years and I still
do all of the buying besides jewelry, which I still do some of, but I mostly approve stuff our VP
picks out now.
I will say that if I was ever to hire a buyer, I would look at their social media and see what they
wear. Not that this is always the greatest indicator but knowing how to style something is very
important and I like people who are a little "extra" and go above and beyond to "make" the outfit.

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We sell items people are excited to wear buyer needs to be someone who is excited to get
dressed up every day, who is truly passionate about fashion, not just someone looking for a
paycheck.

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