Warm Me Up

I love to be warm.  I was made for the hot, humid weather of DC.  But I wasn't made for air conditioning.  Let me explain.

I grew up in a house without air conditioning.  My parents built their house in 1960, the year they got married.  Air conditioning would have consisted of a window unit at that time (and that isn't something that they found necessary).  Plus, they lived in the Appalachian Mountains at an elevation of 2,421 feet.  A summer day over 90 degrees was a once a year event.  Why have air conditioning?  When you don't have something, you don't miss it!

As I've gotten used to air conditioning in my adult life, I've gravitated toward spring and summer sweaters as great primary or layering pieces.  But I find that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for sweaters.

When I opened Zoe in Spring 2011, I had a selection of sweaters from one of my creative favorites, Lia Molly as well as sweaters from Laurie B.  They sold reasonably well.  The next Spring, Lia Molly had ceased large scale production and the selections from Laurie B were slower to sell.  Something was up - why weren't they selling? 

I had to reevaluate my product mix.  And bring in only six sweaters for Spring 2013 - three from Velvet, two from Graham and Spencer and one from Tracy Reese.  Most of the cardigans have done well but the others have not.  I was especially surprised this fun layering sweater from Velvet wasn't more popular.

It had the neon accent at the bottom, could be layered over many color combinations and worn with everything from jeans to a skirt to dress slacks.  So what did I miss?  What are your concerns with this sweater?  Help me make good buying decisions when I shop for Spring in September!

P.S.  Are you shopping your Independent Retailers this week?  Make sure to collect your experiences to share with me!