Press

St. Kate's fashion students to compete in Express Yourself challenge

By Nancy Ngo
nngo@pioneerpress.com

Posted:   11/03/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT

 

Express Yourself Clothing in St. Paul (1154 Selby Ave.) is partnering with St. Catherine University apparel design students for a redesign challenge and event held at the store. 

A trunk show will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 8 and feature the work of six students from the St. Paul school. Students are given the challenge of taking existing apparel from the boutique and using the material to re-create an original piece. The event, themed "Timeless: Fashion Through the Ages," is free and open to the public. Fashion experts will be on hand to judge the students' works, with a top designer announced by the night's end. Nancy Ngo can be reached at 651-228-5172. Follow her at twitter.com/nancyngotc and pinterest.com/nancyngotc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Style Snippets: The south shall rise again at Mall of America

By Nancy Ngo
nngo@pioneerpress.com

Posted:   05/01/2011 12:01:00 AM CDT

For the past few months, Mall of America has been working on rebranding its south shopping wing and has renamed it South Avenue. Two new shops will open this month to help the new image:

Ax Armani Exchange will open May 17 on the first floor, offering such items as denim and accesories for men and women. Ax Armani stores sell more casual and affordable options than the Italian designer's high-end line.

Las Vegas-based Bettie Page clothing and accessories store will debut May 27 on the second floor. Expect to find vintage-style dresses, swimwear and other form-flattering pieces inspired by the 1950s pinup model.

A Michael Kors clothing shop and Stuart Weitzman shoe store also are scheduled to open on the first floor in the next few months.

VINTAGE TIME

 

Vintage Marketplace is open in downtown Farmington (302 Oak St.). Rick Breiter and Nancy Cauley used their backgrounds in retail, home furnishing and decorating to open a shop featuring antiques, jewelry, furniture, garden art and other home pieces. Cauley said the south suburb is perfect for their vintage-themed store.

"We chose Farmington because of the historic downtown buildings and the organic, hometown feel," she said. For more information, visit vintagemarketplace.org.

Chotchke, a free vintage shopping event, will open for Mother's Day weekend in St. Paul's University/Raymond commercial district (Carleton Artist Lofts, 2285 University Ave.). Toys, art, movie posters, designer clothing, jewelry, furniture and more will be for sale. The event runs Friday through Sunday. For more information, go to cheapchotchke.com.

Also on Mother's Day weekend, the historic Smith Douglas More House/Dunn Bros. Coffee space in Eden Prairie (8107 Eden Prairie Road) will host a vintage shopping event. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Sunday, the Mother's Day Market will offer home and garden pieces, furniture and accessories.

WORKING IT

For the latest looks in eco-fashion, an event in St. Paul might be just the ticket. Fifteen local designers were challenged to reuse items and redesign them for the "Clothes Have Dreams Too" fashion show Friday at the Dancers Studio (Midway Shopping Center, 1562 University Ave.). Proceeds will benefit Express Yourself Clothing, a youth-run business in St. Paul that teaches entrepreneurial skills to urban youth. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10 general admission, $5 for students. For more information, go to clotheshavedreamstoo.com.

Nancy Ngo can be reached at 651-228-5172. Follow her on Twitter at @nancyngotc

Print   Email   Font Resize

After-school careers: A nonprofit program gives teens a taste of entrepreneurship

Express Yourself Clothing, a nonprofit-based resale store, has opened the eyes and imaginations of the teens who run it.

 

By Allison Kaplan
akaplan@pioneerpress.com

Posted:   08/18/2010 12:01:00 AM CDT | Updated:   3 years ago

Assistant manager Perquila Rogers, left, helps intern Alyssa Austin price gently used clothing at Express Yourself in St. Paul on Tuesday August 10, 2010. (Pioneer Press: Richard Marshall) (Richard Marshall)

Stella Richardson has a store to clean, clothes to price, staff to train and customers to please. The 17-year-old went looking for a safe place to hang out after school and ended up with a career. Richardson, a St. Paul Central High School senior, is one of four teenage co-founders of Express Yourself Clothing, a resale shop at 1154 Selby Ave. in St. Paul. It opened earlier this year with about $12,000 in grants obtained by Youth Express, a local nonprofit that offers teens a chance to learn all aspects of running a small business. The program, which has been around for more than 20 years, enables teens who complete a 15-session apprentice program to be considered for a job with a Youth Express enterprise. It's competitive: Of the approximately 70 kids who went through the apprentice class this summer, Youth Express had space to hire 25. "I was just looking for something to do. I never thought I'd start a business," said Perquila Rogers, who was chosen as one of the founding partners at Express Yourself Clothing. The Highland Park High School graduate plans to continue managing the store even when she starts a nursing program at a technical college this fall. "Before, nursing was the only career I knew about. Now, I might want to stay in business." Express Yourself Clothing is next door to the longest-running Youth Express business, the 15-year-old Express Bike Shop. It took six years for the bike store to become profitable; Youth Express enterprise director Randy Treichel said Express Yourself Clothing is on pace to make money within two years. To be sustainable, the businesses must earn enough to cover operating costs. Profits get funneled into the program. "We wanted a start-up that would appeal to young women and fit into the neighborhood," Treichel said. An ice cream shop and a coffee house were considered, but fashion was ultimately more in keeping with the girls' interests, and resale made it practical, eliminating the cost of inventory. Richardson and her co-founders didn't realize just how on-trend they were with resale — one of the few retail categories to grow in the past couple of years as consumers have become more conscious about spending and recycling — until another used-clothing store, Everyday People, opened just a few blocks away on Selby Avenue. "At first we were like, 'Oh no,' '' Richardson recalled. But the budding entrepreneur now realizes that more stores can make Selby a bigger draw for shoppers. Still, getting customers in the door is a bigger challenge than she and her co-workers anticipated. "If high school kids have money in their pockets, they go to the mall," Treichel said.

Sales manager Stella Richardson, left, talks about pricing boots with interns Kim Beach, center and Jojo Johnson, right, at Express Yourself in St. Paul on Tuesday August 10, 2010. (Pioneer Press: Richard Marshall) (Richard Marshall)

"I try to tell my friends that it's the same stuff you find at the mall, but a lot cheaper and closer to home," Richardson added. For now, the core customers seem to be women in their 20s who appreciate the value of $10 Abercrombie & Fitch jeans when they have to pay for them on their own. It's one of the many lessons Richardson has learned from managing a store. Treichel oversees operations, but he gives the eight teens who work there the latitude to make decisions — and mistakes. There was a time when Richardson gave in to a pushy customer who insisted the store buy clothes that were not in condition for resale. Now, there's a prepared speech behind the counter for just such occasions. "I'm sorry, we're way too full in our basement to accept that," Richardson practices. "Sometimes," she said, "you have to say it twice." Richardson has come to realize that running a business is about much more than earning a paycheck. "I've spoken at foundations in front of a whole group, I've trained interns. I've learned how to talk to people and compromise. I've become a better shopper," Richardson said. "I'm really confident." When school starts in a few weeks, Richardson's to-do list includes advertising Express Yourself Clothing in the school newspaper and coordinating a school sale. "It's a huge part of my life now," she said. "It's going to help me so much in the future." Allison Kaplan can be reached at 651-228-5116.