iia ea ad “S 16 — Sunday, August 18, 1991 - North Shore News THE NAME may say it all when talking shop with one of North Vancouver’s most popular retailers. Melrose Avenue Boutique could have been transplanted from L.A.’s trendy shopp- ing street, Melrose Avenue, with its great selection of fashion-forward designer clothing in a comfortable atmosphere. Carol Crenna FASHION STATEMENTS What’s in store for Melrose Avenue shoppers? This imported clothing store is selling clean-lin- ed, innovatively detailed fashions from Europe, the U.S. and Canada. For women in 1991, Melrose Avenue is spotlighting designers Alfred Sung, Jones of New York and Kiaus Steilmann in both ready-to-wear and sport lines. The store also carries Louben, Tahari and Diane Gilman as well as ex- clusive lines from the Far East which are made by a manufactur- er that the company partly owns. These tabels include Sheree hand-knitted cotton sweaters, Mayon and Magaschoni business separates and Melrose Avenue washable silk jackets, pants, shirts and skirts. For men, the store carries Perry Ellis, and Steilmann For Men (from Germany) suits and sepa- rates, Esprit For Men sports wear, Victor Emmanuel (imported from Portugal), and great Nicole Miller silk ties. Introduced in Lonsdale Quay when it opened five and a helf years ago, this retailer on the rise is one of the few clothing firms in the market to have secured a steady clientele since the quay’s beginning. Melrose Avenue owners, Eddie and Winfield Yan, sold their first location on Cambie Street in Vancouver and have since opened a warehouse-style store on West 14th Ave., selling their merchandise at a discount. Melrose Avenue recently secured a temporary store in Park Royal as a test market. The firm will not continue to operate in Park Royal in the fall, however, and is still looking for another location for expansion. A large part of the Yans’ suc- cess stems from their multi- dimensional attitude towards mer- chandising and fashion in general. Their clothing stock ranges from men’s business suits to ladies’ ca- sual separates. The store sells trendy jewelry and fun men’s tics, sexy silk sarongs and men’s silk boxer shorts, guilded evening jackets, pretiy mix'n’match sepa- rates and stylish men’s shirts and sweaters, and professional suiting for men and women. FASHION Selling style Melrose Avenue’s Winfield Yan discusses current trends LINEN ORESS by Diane Gilman in bright yellow, orange and purple blocking now half price at $103. As a fashion retailer, the Yans are two of the lucky few who can put their finger out and catch the pulse of the times. They have in- troduced several designers to the North Shore market. ‘“*We are always looking for new lines, meaning new designers that are not sold elsewhere and styles that look new and dif- ferent,’’ says Winfield. And the public has always rewarded their instincts. In an interview with Winfield Yan, she discussed the store’s phi- losophy. it is said a pood retailer knows his crowd and builds up the at- mosphere accordingly. How do you describe your store’s af- mosphere? “We chose this name for the store because the street in Los Angel:s is a hot spot for buying nice clothes. Olivia Newton-John even owns a store there. It’s also fun. “Our store has a personable, fun atmosphere created within the surroundings of the Lonsdale Quay market. People are often dressed casually and have a casual attitude. We have an honest. ca- sual approach to our customers. We are known to most customers on a first-name basis, and we get to know many of them. We also have a client mailing list of ap- proximately 3,000 who we keep informed of new lines and upcom- ing sales. When we sold our store on Cambie Street, many of our Original clients followed us to this store, We have a steady and loyal clientele from downiown Van- couver, the Burnaby area and West Vancouver, as well as some from North Vancouver.” Do you feel that a store is justa place ¢o sell clothes, or are you selling an image as well? “We sell both clothing and im- age. We think of the personalities of our customers when we arrange our store’s interior, We want Melrose Avenue io have a ‘‘lived- in*’ mood, so the ciothes can’t be too tidy and perfectly arranged. We sometimes go through the store and change the way the clothing is merchandised to look more ‘untidy’? so that the cus- tomer will feel more at home and relaxed. Do you think the North Shore is becoming recognized as a fash- ion centre in Vancouver? “No, not really. Especially not as a shopping area. I notice a lot of younger people moving to the North Shore, and they dress well, and many West Vancouver resi- denis dress well, but they have very few places to buy clothing here."’ Do fashionable people here dif- fer from anywhere else in Van- couver? “Suddenly, I see a large yuppie crowd moving to North Van- couver, especially in the new con- dominiums and in the area sur- tounding the quay. Now many people in North Vancouver dress well so that I can't tell the dif- ference between the West Van- couver customers and the North Vancouvers, the downtown clients or the tourists.”’ Do you think it is true that someone with a lot of morey can have the same taste as someone without, and, is the second group an important market to service, too? *“*We sell medium-priced clothing that is good quality, and we turn the inventory over very quickly with sales. We have sales alt year round. It makes more business sense to keep the stock moving, and to have new mer- chandise always in the store. And this way we can cater to the sty- lish customers on a budget, too. For instance, we now have a half price sale on our entire stock, which is all of the summer mer- chandise.”’ How do you decide which de- signers te sell in your stores? ‘*We like to sell clothing in natural fibres with simple lines that don’t date, yet with new detailing and shape. Some of the clothing may not be considered classic. For instance, we are get- ting new motorcycle jacket blazers in the store for fall which are made in wool suiting and are cut long, but they have the same detailing as a tough leather motorcycle bomber. “Also, certain lines are more forward, such as Alfred Sung Sport which has changed dramatically since the firm was sold by The Monaco Group. **Each line we carry has a large selection of clothing for us to choose from so we simply buy what we feel goes with our store.’* Travelling seems to be indispen- sible to your work, does it give you lots of ideas? ‘We do travel extensively to Montreal, Toronto and Hong Kong to pick up this season’s stock and to order for the next season, and I will be going to Europe soon to buy clothing for fali. | find it important to travel to other stores after September to identify what is actually selling in other areas. Why do you sell both men's wear and ladies’ wear? “‘T would estimate that at feast 50% of our men’s wear is sold to women. They come in to buy for themselves, but notice something in the men’s wear and buy it for a man who they will convince to wear it.”