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Wichita Mom Boss

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Meet Kami

Before starting Apricot Lane, I was a hair stylist in a small Kansas town.  I think that’s how my passion for helping women feel good about themselves started.  Styling hair allowed me the opportunity to give women the boost of confidence they desired.  It was in that same small town that I met my husband, Mark.  After we were married, his work moved us out of state.  I was a stay-at-home mom raising two boys, but Mark and I had always dreamed of starting up our own business – we just didn’t know when or how.

Why Apricot Lane

Mark and I finally decided it was time to move forward with our dream.  My desire to help women feel good about themselves was still strong, and I had always loved anything to do with fashion.  We both knew we wanted to be closer to home, so we made the move back to Wichita, Kansas.  Wichita was not only a lot closer to home, but it also offered us the perfect market for a trendy and affordable clothing store. store front Once we discovered Apricot Lane, we knew we had made the right decision.  This franchise took out all of the guesswork for us, and made our transition to “boutique owners” so much easier.  We loved having the support of a large franchise, but even more than that we loved how Apricot Lane allowed us the flexibility to truly make the store our own.  Not only did we receive support from the franchisor, but also from the network of other Apricot Lane Boutique franchisees, which helped us create a solid foundation. store interior"Our lives are hectic managing three children and a business but we wouldn’t trade it for anything!"

Where We Are Now

Mark and I are approaching our fourth holiday season in the retail business.  Just like any other new adventure, there have been ups and downs along the way, but each year we find ourselves more organized and more excited.  Having an amazing sales team is of utmost importance in making sure our store is running smoothly.  I’ve always loved working with women and young girls, so having the opportunity to manage our sales team has been such a great time – and definitely never boring!  Building and maintaining relationships with customers is Apricot Lane Wichita’s number one goal.  We love our “regulars” and make it a point to welcome each and every person into our store with a smile and a greeting.  It is our goal to make every single customer feel appreciated.

clothes flat lay clothes flat lay 2 As a husband-and-wife business team, we make every important decision for the store together.  Mark, in addition to his full time job in commercial banking, handles the hiring and accounting end, while I take care of store merchandising, employee management, and all of the buying.  Opening the store has strengthened our relationship in ways we could not have imagined.  Since making the move back to Kansas and opening Apricot Lane Wichita, our family has grown.  We now have the two boys, Aidan and Cooper, and a little diva, Madeleine.  Our lives are hectic managing three children and a business but we wouldn’t trade it for anything! family photo Originally posted in City Moms Blog

A Family Affair. {Apricot Lane Florida}

family affair {Meet the Shapiros} If you were to ask Phyllis, husband Barry, or son Matthew if they could change their careers and do something different, the hands-down answer would be a very sincere, “No.” How It All Began In high school, Barry started out working in domestics at Macy’s where he met Phyllis, who worked in the cosmetics department. They married in 1979, moved a few times along the way for Barry’s retail career growth in operations at Ann Taylor and Chicos, and eventually landed in Fort Myers, Florida. During that time, Phyllis raised their two sons – Matthew, now 34 and Jeff, now 31. While working as President of Perry Ellis retail, Barry stumbled across Apricot Lane at a trade show in Las Vegas where Ken Peterson, the CEO of Apricot Lane Franchise was a featured speaker. He had always thought about owning his own business and thought of this opportunity, and the support that Apricot Lane Franchises offers, as a way to start a business with his wife and son. Phyllis and Barry opened their first store in Coconut Creek, Florida in November of 2008. Matthew joined his parents shortly after, first as a store manager, to learn the ins and outs of the business. As of two years ago, Matthew is the buyer for all of their stores. Present Day The Shapiros currently have their Coconut Creek store, added their DelRay Beach store to the family business in 2013, and will soon open a third location in Wellington, Florida. Phyllis still keeps an eye on the Coconut Creek store while running back and forth to the DelRay Beach location, which is close to their residence. When asked what the best thing about the Apricot Lane stores is, Phyllis replied, “The stores allow me the opportunity to work alongside my family. It gives me those few extra days a week to be with my son, which I love!” Working together as a family affords them the time to travel to the different trade shows across the United States, as well as talk shop. The Shapiros emphasize their love of the fact that their stores are part of the community in which they reside. They pride themselves on their warm and friendly team of associates who are part of their extended family. phyllis-barry-and-matt-outside Originally posted in City Moms Blog.

Mom. Daughter. Bosses. {Apricot Lane Omaha}

Meet Karen & Janee :: Mom Bosses mom daughter boss My mother Karen and I have always been very close. She owned a few hair care product salons at a few malls in Nebraska (while still working a full time corporate job). The day she got released from the hospital after having me, she actually brought me into the store to check on things. You could literally say I was born to shop – born on Saturday, shopping by Monday. Mother/Daughter Business Plan Fast forward 24 years. I was living in Chicago working at a law firm and needed a change of pace. I wanted to be back at home in Omaha so I could be with family and friends. About the same time, Karen was ready to retire from her corporate job. We had always wanted to open a business together and started looking for opportunities. A friend from college was managing an Apricot Lane in Missouri at the time and was always talking about how much she loved her job. Karen and I decided to go check it out, and the rest was history. We loved everything about it. Apricot Lane sat down with us to share their life experiences that brought them to the world of women’s boutiques. The whole company is founded upon giving back to those in need and creating awareness. We decided then that we were going to turn our passion into a mother/daughter business. We could be a part of a supporting franchise, yet still bring in our own styles and personalities into the business. Let me tell you: it’s been a crazy ride! We furnished our boutique similarly to what I would do in my own home, to create a relaxed and fun shopping environment. We want women to feel like they are shopping with friends in the comfort of our home. We have all ages of women that shop with us: from teenagers to women in their 70s. We have been so blessed to get to know so many different women with completely different styles. The variety in the products in the store is amazing. I love leggings and trendy tops and dresses with booties or heels that I can easily turn the look from day to night. My mother loves a great pair of denim and a nice classic top or sweater. We work hard to bring in items that we would both wear. omaha interior "We decided ­­­that we were going to turn our passion into a mother/daughter business." Living the Dream It’s been over three years, and the experience has been so rewarding. Working with family is fun and exciting, but not without challenges. Our mother/daughter bond goes deeper than a typical relationship because we are also partners. The most challenging part is also the most rewarding: we are in business for ourselves but we don’t always agree on everything. We complete and complement each other, which makes the business successful. Karen: “Working with my daughter is rewarding on so many levels. Not only do I have a front-row seat to her growth and success in the fashion industry, but I have her companionship and am able to share in her life to a degree that would make many mothers envious.” Janee: “My mother is a very driven, successful, and kind woman. She’s been such an inspiration to me and is such a strong woman. I honestly don’t know how she does it all. Learning how to run a business from her is a priceless experience that most people never have the chance to do.” We have literally shopped every single weekend that we’ve spent together to this day – and wouldn’t have it any other way. We can’t wait to see how our journey unfolds in the future. Make sure to to check out more about Karen and Janee’s Omaha store AND shop all of the seasons most popular styles from Apricot Lane! Stay tuned as we highlight more Apricot Lane stores around the country and the hardworking #MomBoss that is behind each one. Originally posted in City Moms Blog

Top Coat Trends For Fall 2016

The cold weather is upon us, and it's officially time to bundle up in the morning on your commute to work or school! The styles we're loving, straight from the runway are updates to classic styles like the trench and newer looks too, like a velvet parka. Scroll down to see the top trending coats that you can wear now and next winter. Trend: Velvet or Velour what-to-wear-for-date-night-when-its-freezing-outside-1614588-1452119820-640x0c-640x980 Image Source: Closet Full Of Clothes velvet-coat-464x600 Image Source: Ferbena.com velvet-trend-2016-fall-14 Image Source: The Fashion Tag wearing-velvet-21 Image Source: Fashion Tag Trend: Shaggy, Shearling & Textured shaggy_coats_inspo_1024x1024 Image Source: 20 20 AVE aimee_song_of_style_chloe_shearling_coat_chloe_dress_chloe_hudson_bag_brown_boots Image Source: Song Of Style outfit Image Source: Pinterest clothes Image Source: Pinterest le-fashion-blog-neutral-ganni-textured-camel-coat-cropped-black-pants-white-sneakers-fall-style-via-fash-n-chips Image Source: Le Fashion woman Image Source: Pinterest fur-shaggy-red-beanie-nyfw-fw13-bazaar Image Source: Style Carrot fashion Image Source: Pinterest Trend: Updated Trench Coats vivaluxury Image Source: Pinterest love-style-studio-blog-light-grey-beige-trench-coat-white-shirt-wavy-ombre-hair-ripped-jeans-raw-hem-leopard-heels-aida-domenech-dulceida Image Source: Small Town Couture suede-trench-coats-15 Image Source: The Fashion Tag suede-trench-coats-8 Image Source: The Fashion Tag lisa-olsson_b Image Source: Bedazelive suede-trench-coats-3 Image Source: The Fashion Tag

Apricot Lane St. Armands Circle Featured in City Mom’s Blog

apricot_lane_fashion_engaged-featured-9-16-16 Meet Ginger – mom, grammies, fashion lover, and business owner.  She’s been known to spoil her fabulous four grandchildren first with love, then with goodies! After 31 years of wedded bliss to her high school sweetheart and three beautiful daughters, family is everything to her.  Crafts, art, and the designing of anything always peaked her interest, but it’s the small things in life that really embrace her – smiling, laughing, loving, being a little crazy (okay, a lot crazy!), making memories, and family devotion. Her family is the real reason she wanted to start a business. Ginger knows succeeding at her own business brings in extra money to treat her family to enjoyable trips, delectable dinners, fun outings, and ultimately having something of value to leave behind for her offspring. Ginger also wanted to set a good example for her children and g-kids by teaching them that you truly can do or be anything you want in life if you really go after it.  And today, City Moms Blog Network is thrilled to share her story and successes with Apricot Lane.
If we were going to make a colossal life change, I wanted it to be different this time around.  I wanted to do something fun.  I wanted to get up in the morning and actually want to go to work.  This earth is supposed to be life’s playground after all, right?  If I was to succeed both in business and spiritually, I knew I had to make work fun!  I always loved playing dress up as most little and big girls do, I always loved make-up, purses, jewelry and let’s not forget shoes!  So there it was, fashion was part of our destination! ginger

Read Ginger's Story.

Visiting the warm, sunny south as our family annually did, we fell in love with tropical birds, dancing palm trees, aqua crystal waters, white sandy beaches and cheerful hellos from passersby as we browsed our favorite shopping destination.  Everything was so bright, upbeat, enjoyable and alive at St. Armands Circle!  We had found our haven, we just had to put the rest of the pieces together of life’s journey. If we were going to make a colossal life change, I wanted it to be different this time around.  I wanted to do something fun.  I wanted to get up in the morning and actually want to go to work.  This earth is supposed to be life’s playground after all, right?  If I was to succeed both in business and spiritually, I knew I had to make work fun!  I always loved playing dress up as most little and big girls do, I always loved make-up, purses, jewelry and let’s not forget shoes!  So there it was, fashion was part of our destination!

Why Apricot Lane.

While researching the merchant and fashion field, I stumbled across the franchise Apricot Lane Boutique.  They were the perfect opportunity, as I had never worked in retail before (I sure had lots of experience on the other side of the cash register though!).  The next question was, how? I once read, you don’t need to have all the answers up front, just start taking the steps forward and you will figure it out as you go along.  As the old saying goes, “nothing ventured, nothing gained!”  Anxiousness and fear of starting your own business are real, but once you look deep inside yourself, confidence overcomes and turns your dreams into reality. women
Anxiousness and fear of starting your own business are real, but once you look deep inside yourself, confidence overcomes and turns your dreams into reality.

The American Dream.

One by one they’ve joined me.  My family, my husband, my girls, two pups and myself have relocated to sunny Sarasota.  We’ve had quite the journey, we’ve flown across the country a few times meeting new people, making new friends, learning new things and experiencing a whole new life.  These are all wonderful things we never would have encountered without the courage to just “start”.  My journey has brought my family closer together, not only geographically but respectfully.  We rely on each other, we laugh together, we each step up to the plate as needed and we really are enjoying each other along the way!  We are having fun!  Our store, Apricot Lane Boutique St. Armands Circle, is family owned and operated.  We created something from nothing.  We truly are living the American dream and you can, too! Make sure to to check out more about Ginger’s Sarasota store AND shop all of the seasons most popular styles from Apricot Lane!  Stay tuned as we highlight more Apricot Lane stores around the country and the hardworking #MomBoss that is behind each one. store front
Originally posted in City Moms Blog