The Time Is Now
Keep in mind that the overall process to open a boutique of your own takes several months. If your goal is to be open and in business within the next 6 months or so, then you’re doing the right thing to start talking with us right now!
Be Happy
Our owners are happy to be doing robust business. Hear them describe what it’s like to be part of the #1 women’s fashion franchise
Make Others Happy
Our owners form deep relationships with customers, making them friends & fans. Hear what makes Apricot Lane so special from the customer’s point of view
Location
Before we award a franchise, we come out to meet you personally and spend the day looking at real estate. This visit happens at our expense. We also introduce you to our leasing reps to tour other potential locations after our visit. Why? Because location, location, location is really that important!
Support at Every Step
We know that without proper onboarding, our franchisees cannot do their jobs, which is why we go the extra mile to ensure that you are trained properly. Our outstanding training is just one of the reasons why Apricot Lane franchisees thrive.
From the beginning, we train our franchisees with all the tools that they need to operate their businesses.You'll spend time with various members of our team to learn the necessary skills to get your boutique off the ground while learning all aspects of operating a retail business.
Boutique Design
We’re with you from start to finish with the design, architecture, layout and planogram of your new boutique. Before you open, you’ll receive training on merchandising, product knowledge, hiring, customer service, and operating your POS system. Our professional Merchandiser will be there in person before and during your Grand Opening. And our support continues after you open to make sure your business thrives.
Responsive Training
The Apricot Lane team is one of a kind. Each member of our franchise team brings their skills and expertise to our business, which in turn helps YOU grow your businesses. We have marketing experts, merchandising pros, fashion buyers, graphic designers, visual merchandisers, administrative assistants and franchising managers, all of whom are dedicated to helping our franchisees thrive. You’ll spend time with various members of our team of retail experts to teach you all aspects of operating your retail business. It includes live video conferences sequenced across several months to ensure you are developing the skills you need at a comfortable pace
One of the hallmarks of the Apricot Lane franchise is the ongoing support that we provide to our franchisees. Resources like best-practices webinars, one-on-one insights meetings to help you optimize your business, a company-wide intranet, in-house marketing agency, merchandising tools, and more. Our best-in-class support resources provide our franchise owners everything they need to focus on what’s important: delivering a unique boutique experience that ensures Apricot Lane Boutique is “her favorite place to shop!”
Merchandising
When deciding on the appearance of your boutique, you will have choices of approved looks and will also be able to pick out many pieces to show your own personality and reflect your marketplace.
Our merchant team helps you assemble the ideal mix of apparel, jewelry, and accessories along with attractive fixtures to showcase your products in the best way.
Buying
Our merchant team shares insights into the ideal product mix for your boutique, how to price, seasonally assort and more. We even have a buyer in the L.A. Fashion District who is constantly finding the newest products from hundreds of vendors and keeping you informed of the “Must-Have” styles and negotiating exclusive discounts that you get as part of the Apricot Lane family. Our goal is to help you assort your boutique with the very best and latest styles for your local customer base, because ultimately it is YOU in control of the buy.
We empower YOU.
Technology
Your Point of Sale (POS) system is an important engine that drives your retail business. As an Apricot Lane Boutique franchisee, you can be confident that your POS is powerful and easy to learn. Our POS provider, LightSpeed has a relationship with us that comes with discounts, custom reports, low processing rates and opportunities not available to any other retailer big or small. All Apricot Lane Boutique computers are Apple for streamlined training, ease of use and integration. We have the ability to remotely log in to securely assist you so technical support is just a phone call away!
The Final Transformation
After you have completed our training program, your next few weeks will focus on getting your boutique open. You will receive a majority of the products at your home to price and tag them, while also hiring your staff. Days before your Grand Opening, we send a merchandiser to your boutique for support with the final setup of visual merchandising, POS setup and your Boutique is transformed from boxes to a beautiful fashion boutique. After your Grand Opening, our support continues with ongoing training, webinars, continuing education, merchandising consultation and networking.
Ongoing Support
After your grand opening, we want you to continue developing and learning best practices, so we scheduled support calls with various team members at regular intervals for you to talk about your Boutique sales results, buying, visual merchandising, marketing, social media, staffing and more.
We have seasonal planning video calls with all of our owners to help you plan ahead for important trends, strategize to maximize your business, learn best practices, share ideas and collaborate with other owners.
Buying Shows
Throughout the year, our franchisees are invited to attend major apparel shows like the Dallas Market and MAGIC in Las Vegas. These shows provide an opportunity for you to see and buy the newest styles from hundreds of vendors, meet other Apricot Lane Boutique owners, network, learn about upcoming trends, attend amazing seminars and more.
Marketing Support
We have an in-house marketing department that becomes part of your extended team. Together, we work to promote the Apricot Lane brand while maximizing your visibility to your local community and customers. We provide cost-effective ready-to-use advertising materials and fully developed campaigns. We also provide consulting, concept development, design services, and training. All the resources you need to effectively advertise and drive traffic to your boutique.
Digitally Present
Your customers like to have a relationship with you that extends outside of your physical boutique, so we set you up with a robust digital presence that allows you to always stay in front of your customers, and them to always stay engaged with you.
Resources
To make it easy for you to plan and execute marketing, we have a website that has a complete library of general marketing and the latest seasonal campaigns so you can download digital items or order printed and other promotional items like posters, signs, bags, boxes and more with just a few clicks.
Peers Support Group
ALB M.O.B.S. stands for Marketing, Merchandising, Operations, Buying, SocialMedia. Through this private Facebook account group, we share what owners have been up to and post upcoming events, new marketing campaigns, webinars and more. It is also where you can network easily with other Apricot Lane owners, share experiences, learn best practices, and get tips relevant to your business!
The Next Step
A 15 minute Intro call is the next step in learning more about what it takes to become a franchisee and have an Apricot Lane Boutique of your own. Use this link to
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