Patchwork Princess was started in October of 2007 by Linda and Larry Warehime. They were looking for a business that would leverage Linda’s style instincts with Larry’s extensive knowledge of the apparel industry (he’s spent over 35 years in apparel related IT positions). Out of that idea, www.patchworkprincess.com was born.
“We went through a couple of strategies before we settled on where we are now,” said Larry. “At first, we started to focus on infant and toddler party dresses.” Larry explains that that idea soon morphed into carrying more contemporary stylish clothing from name brand manufacturers like Rare Editions, Baby Togs, Lipstick, Bonnie Jean, Betsy and Babs, and others. Tied into that, Linda and Larry also sold directly through Ebay.
“We felt that with our Ebay traffic, it would help our customers find our website and grow our traffic that way.” So far that strategy has been paying off. “Our core philosophy is to take care of our customers. We want them to be 100% satisfied,” said Linda who handles both the buying and the customer service functions for Patchwork Princess. “We take special care of our packaging, to make the customer feel as if they are receiving a gift, rather than just another product from an ecommerce site,” said Linda.
Recently, Patchwork Princess formed a relationship with Pout, a small chain of stores who provide Spa parties for little girls. Patchwork Princess utilizes some space in one of the stores and has found that the synergy is excellent. Little girls who come in for a party bring their mothers along who get to shop while their little princesses are getting a spa treatment. Additionally, they are introduced to the web site through marketing brochures.
“We have seen our traffic increase steadily since our relationship with Pout,” says Larry.
While not revealing details of their revenue, Larry indicated that they had a very modest growth plan for their first year and are currently ahead of that plan. “Like any new venture, this requires hard work and dedication,”
“We have plans to open a boy’s website early next year, and have already registered the domain of www.maxwellsclubhouse.com . Like our girl’s site, we want to have quality hip and trendy clothing at affordable prices.
