Oh, what sweet words those were to read in an email from AmericasMart Atlanta yesterday afternoon!
A few days ago in the blog, I had shared a list of all of the requirements for qualification as a buyer at the Mart. Knowing that I needed to do my buying for the store to open in Q1 of next year (spring fashions start shipping in January), I booked my flight and car in Atlanta for the Apparel Market to run from October 14 - 18. When the work on the lease was moving forward quickly, I thought I would likely have it signed before market next week and have that as my final qualification piece.
When it became clear that the lease would likely take longer than I had anticipated, I knew that the only other qualification that I could obtain from the list would be an invoice from a Mart vendor. Now, the logical side of me gets very disturbed when I think about the fact that you have to buy something to be qualified as a buyer. But let's not dwell on that.
Now, a trip to Atlanta is never wasted, as I love getting to see my family. And, if I hadn't been able to get my qualifications, I would have made to trip anyway just to spend time with them. But I knew I'd be creating a big problem for myself if I didn't get my inventory on order.
I had been working with different wholesalers (vendors) and reviewing their upcoming lines. Some types of vendors have what they call Immediates - these are items that they sell all the time because the styles are part of their basic brand and they don't change. So, they can be bought anytime and sold anytime, regardless of season. They have Immediates in addition to their seasonal lines.
So what doesn't change drastically over the course of a few months in fashion? I settled on accessories because things like scarves and some jewelry can be fairly timeless. Yesterday, I placed an order for scarves and bracelets from one of the Mart vendors and received a copy of my invoice. I'll meet with this same Mart vendor next week to review their Ready to Wear (RTW) line of clothing and accessories.
Once I had the invoice in hand, I made copies of all of the other qualification items and headed off to my trusty Staples to fax everything to the Mart. (No one hogging the fax machine this time!) Within a few hours, I got the confirmation email!
It was a busy day with Zoe yesterday. I completed review of the Home Page Wireframe diagram for Web Designer Mark and sent him my comments. I received the formal quote from Architect Michael and signed off on it. And, late last night, I received the new draft of the lease from my attorney, which I'll review today and, hopefully, be ready to send back to my broker!
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