“As in?”
She tapped her tablet of paper. “Adding a tuxedo rental area to the store. It doesn’t have to be big, just well stocked with stylized fitting jackets. Also, the rental company bears the initial cost, and to garner a new location they’re generally good at giving deals on sample tuxes to try on. Their profit lies in the order, so it’s a perfect match.”
It could be, Greg realized. One-stop shopping. “And?”
“Prom.”
He frowned. “Prom?”
Kathy’s smile widened, which meant she’d thought about this in the past.
“The average teen is spending over seven hundred dollars to go to prom. Some go to several in one year. We have this whole section of mothers’ attire here.” She pointed behind Greg. “And the sales on it are dismal. I suggest turning that into a prom room.”
“That brings in a younger crowd,” Kathy noted.
“And noisy.”
“Possibly bratty.”
Tara laughed, not disagreeing with Liz or Maisy. “Teens can be a handful, but think of it as an interesting side business that turns into bridal business in eight years. Or . . .” She waited while they turned their attention back to her. “Wedding gown rental.”
Kathy frowned.
Donna winced.
Maisy, Liz, and Myra threw up their hands in unison. “How do we fix gowns for rental?” Liz demanded. “How do we make each bride happy? How can this be done and not make us crazy? I get it that weddings cost great money, but to rent a dress you want to remember the rest of your life? Better they get Uncle Frank to take a video and buy the stupid dress!”
Tara commiserated. “I hear you. So, okay, we nix the rental wedding gown idea. What ideas do you guys think will work? You’ve been here awhile; you know the clientele better than anyone.”
“We need to be on the Internet.” Kathy sent Greg a look of apology, as if suggesting this messed with his mother’s memory. “With a decent web page, like every other business has.”
Tara nodded, jotting quickly. “I’ve got a friend who does web design. She’s got a wedding coming up in September, so maybe we can barter services?” She raised a brow to Greg.
“Truly, right?”
“That’s her.” Tara poised her pencil. “Kathy, you’ve been here the longest and you’re in charge. Can you talk to Tru, tell her what you envision? You’ve got the lowdown on all this. Maybe we could do a multipage site and showcase Donna and Maisy’s ideas of theme weddings.”
“I’d be glad to do it!” Kathy’s tone said she’d do anything to help save Elena’s Bridal.
“I’ll do Facebook,” Tara added. “I’ll friend all of you. Then we can go through the brides for the past two years and send out friend requests. We can use a picture from the new website as our banner . . .”
“And we can list store hours, specials, and all kinds of things on the business page,” added Donna. “I check out my favorite stores that way because there’s so little time for actual in-store shopping with the babies.”
“Excellent point.” Tara noted that and paused. “We need an end game.”
“A what?” Kathy turned toward her, brows up.
“A goal, a target, something all this leads to, keeping us all on the same path. But what could it be?”
Donna darted a look of compassion toward Greg. He noted her hesitation and angled his head in invitation. “Spill it, Donna.”
She faltered, then said, “A Grand Reopening Gala, incorporating all the things we’re changing.”
Greg worked to keep his countenance easy. A reopening made the loss of his mother more permanent, but he couldn’t afford to work on emotion if he wanted to save her store.
“We could invite the area professionals and make it a complete round-robin effect, possibly developing discounted wedding packages with them.” Tara poised her pencil, waiting for his response. “To hold down prices we could do it right here.”
“What better place?” asked Kathy.
Greg agreed. What better place to initiate a new lease on his mother’s beautiful store than where it all began? “I think it’s an excellent idea, and I’ll foot the bill for the gala myself so it doesn’t come out of store profits.”
Kathy’s smile of approval said more than words. “I’ll work on a list of potential industry partners tonight, and we’ll put this plan into action tomorrow.” She stood, indicating it was time to close the meeting.
Greg agreed. He’d walked in here with one plan and was leaving with another, but he’d changed worried looks into hopeful expectation, and that hadn’t just felt good. It felt right, and that was a welcome change.
Kathy crossed over to Tara. About the same height, she looked the young associate right in the eye and said, “Your being here was no accident.”