Pitaya

   Pitaya is a boutique in downtown Athens, Georgia that carries the latest styles of clothing made in the USA. The first Pitaya opened in 1990 and now the store has fifteen locations spread throughout the United States. My favorite thing about Pitaya is that they restock new merchandise every week.  Pitaya is one of those stores that you have to physically go inside to see their new clothing because their website is usually not updated with new arrivals. Pitaya's website needs a little work because it is not visually pleasing. The website just shows pictures of the garments alone on a white background. Shoppers like myself would don't like this because we like to see how the clothing looks and falls on a model. 

   Pitaya’s Instagram is their most popular social media website, but they tend to post sporadically. Some weeks they post eight to twelve times and other weeks they only post five or six times. Pitaya is great about posting their new arrivals on Instagram with the hashtag #shoppitaya. Some of Pitaya’s fall trends include denim/faux suede button up skirts, knotted t-shirt dresses, ankle boots, and long sleeve maxi dresses. Almost two thirds of Pitaya posts just feature the clothing laid out with a nice background. The other third of the stores posts feature style bloggers, employees, or Pitaya shoppers wearing their clothing. Pitaya's Pinterest features twelve boards ranging from new arrivals to clothing by the season to outfits we love. My favorite board is the "As Seen On" board because it features styles people love and similar outfits by Pitaya in the comments under the photo. I think Pitaya has the potential to grow their business even more with the help of social media if they take the time to redesign their website and become more consistent with their use of social media. 

Entourage Clothing

  

  Entourage clothing was born in 2008 from a humble beginning. Katie, the owner, had one goal in mind--to open a store where everyone would feel welcome. She has since expanded her business to seven locations while staying true to her original goal. Entourage’s provides stylish clothing at affordable prices to women of all ages and sizes. Entourage differs from other clothing stores in Athens because it carries plus size and maternity wear in addition to other clothing. Katie believes giving back to the community, so Entourage donates ten percent of all its profits to charities throughout the Southeast. 

  Entourage's overall marketing strategy seems to be effective, but maybe could use some fine tuning. I think that Entourage's current strategy is rather aggressive. When you purchase something at one of Entourage's locations, you are given the option to sign up for text notifications in exchange for a free pair of earrings. Entourage also gives you the option to sign up for text notifications online for ten percent off your purchase. I think that the text notifications can irritate customers because they occur at least three times a week. Entourage also uses social media to advertise their sales and giveaways. In particular, the store has quite a large Instagram following. Recently, Entourage has been advertising that everything in-store is $42 or less. Entourage tends to post around six photos per day on Instagram, but only half of these photos are of actual clothing arrangements. So while Entourage does a great job of keeping customers up to date on a wide variety of clothing choices, perhaps weekly text notifications and fewer daily Instagram posts might be a better strategy.

Planet Blue

   

   Planet Blue recently opened its first store in the Southeast and is taking Atlanta by storm. Planet Blue is a Southern California based brand that originated in Malibu twenty years ago. Since then, Planet Blue has become an international specialty designer that mixes its bohemian style with innovative fashions. The Instagram offers clothing from the leading designers for the California girl at heart. Stone Cold Fox and For Love & Lemons are two of my favorite designers that Planet Blue carries in stores and online. These designers usually only offer their clothes online and in a few select stores, and these stores typically only carry a few designs. 

   Planet Blue used social media to promote its store opening in Buckhead and hosted an opening party on September 25 of this year. Planet Blue teamed up with Show Me Your Mumu for a wardrobe giveaway and shopping spree to get their Instagram followers excited about their new store opening. Planet Blue now has a huge Instagram following with 346,000 followers, and has been using the hashtag #prettyasapeach to connect with Georgia followers. Instagram followers were overjoyed when Planet Blue announced its plans to expand in the Southeast. With stores in over 30 countries, Planet Blue promises to be a big hit among southern belles and California dreamers alike. 

American Threads

   American Threads is a unique clothing store for every free spirited girl. It carries boho chic clothing and one of a kind handmade jewelry. American Threads got started in Atlanta and has been using social media to promote  its sales. American Threads’ Pinterest is my favorite, with 21 different boards. "The Daily Edit" is my favorite board because it features the most recent and my favorite looks. Flares, bell sleeve tops, lace up tanks, denim panel skirts, and fringe boots are whats featured on that board. American Threads is going for the 70s rocker look with their fall line and their Leaves Are Falling board features all of their fall inspiration. This board features many cozy sweater, suede skirts, high boots with high socks, and long sleeve lace up shirts parked with leather jackets. American Threads has 18,000 pins on Pinterest and over 7,000 followers. American Threads “Stay Wild Child” board best illustrates the company image by showing pictures representing wanderlust and the “wild child.” It has many pictures of girls at music festivals, traveling, wearing flower crowns and all American Threads clothing.

   American Threads also has a great Instagram where it features the customers favorite outfits under #threadsbabes The Instagram also features all of its new clothing as well as clothing by other designers, including the For Love & Lemons brand, which is now sold in all American Threads stores. The company currently has three locations, and using social media will help it expand further.

  

Cheeky Peach

   Cheeky Peach’s philosophy is, “Work hard, play hard, look damn good doing it.” The retailer lives up to its philosophy by providing fashion forward clothing at affordable prices. This year’s fall trends include fringe, floppy hats, tie-dye, bells, booties, and unique statement jewelry. Cheeky Peach does a great job of marketing its brand through its social media sites and connecting users through promoting different contests. This summer, Cheeky Peach held a contest where users had to create a Pinterest board of their ideal vacation called “Pack it Peach” and pin at least 8 styles from Cheeky Peach’s summer collection for a chance to win $250. Cheeky Peach also held a contest giving away two Braves tickets for Father’s Day. To enter, users had to post a picture of their dad and explain why he deserved the tickets using the hashtag #peachpappa. Cheeky Peach promoted connections through its social media, which was another avenue of getting its name out there. Cheeky Peach also posts three to five times a day to maximize visibility and exposure on social media.

   What I like most about Cheeky Peach is that it supports local restaurants like Clocked, Your Pie, and Athens Bagel by featuring them on Instagram when the company’s team goes out to eat or holds business meetings at these restaurants. Cheeky Peach also supports local artists by featuring its own unique jewelry on Instagram using #supportlocalartists. Cheeky Peach also features jewelry by Betsy Pittard Designs and Whitney Shoe. Another interesting thing Cheeky Peach has done with its social media is to pick study abroad students to style its clothing and blog about it using #peachesabroad. Cheeky Peach utilizes every aspect of social media possible to encourage each girl to be their own lady boss.

T.J. MAXX

T.J. Maxx is full of hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. None of the national off-price retailer’s over 3,300 stores carry exactly the same merchandise, so shoppers can even hop from store to store in search of bargains. This treasure hunting draws women and men alike into T.J. Maxx stores in search of fashionable clothing at affordable prices.

T.J. Maxx keeps up with the latest trends by purchasing 85% of its merchandise from the current season. Ripped jeans, horizontal stripes, tribal, and horizontal patterns are featured in T.J. Maxx for this fall. T.J. Maxx also labels its clothing from the past season to warn its especially fashion-conscious shoppers who only want the latest trends.

T.J. Maxx has built a community by marketing its brand through social media. T.J. Maxx has their own Pinterest board called “#Maxxlife Moments” to feature some of its favorite looks. The Pinterest board has 623 pins ranging from trendy outfits, pictures of accessories, and featured home good items. On twitter, it has been using the hashtag #Maxxinista for its shoppers to showcase their finds and share their stories for a chance to win a thousand dollars. There are almost 60,000 posts under this hashtag on Instagram, and T.J. Maxx has been featuring its favorite looks on its own Instagram page. T.J. Maxx also has a contest going on for shoppers to share their favorite looks using #Maxxlife for a chance to win $50. Almost 13,000 people have entered into this contest using the hashtag. The use of contests has helped T.J. Maxx gain new customers because the hashtags showcase stylish products that are identical to those sold under the same brand in expensive department stores. 

Red Dress Boutique

 

   Red Dress Boutique expanded its business with the help of social media. The husband and wife entrepreneurs started with a brick-and-mortar store, but their business grew exponentially when they launched a website. Now, online sales make up 90 percent of Red Dress Boutique sales.
The Red Dress website often shows items that have sold out and shows new clothes added daily. The founder, Diana Harbour, explained, “Scarcity breeds demand. I’ll order limited quantity. Girls want to know a hundred other girls don’t have what they have on. I get on social media and I hammer it. I was taking photos of the models in the fitting room in the clothes and uploading them immediately into Facebook so girls could see live time what just came in. It started a bit of frenzy. Social media has made it where you have to have the new, the next, the now. Every day.” Mrs. Harbour’s savvy use of social media helped turn Red Dress Boutique into a multi-million dollar enterprise.
   For example, Red Dress tweets about four times a day about things ranging from motivational quotes to new products, specific looks, and when items are restocked. Red Dress has 17,000 followers on Twitter with 12,300 tweets, including retweets from their followers. Red Dress has an even stronger presence on Instagram, with 188,000 followers and over 7,000 posts. Red Dress also started its own hashtag, #rdbstyle, which allows users on Twitter and Instagram to tag posts when they are wearing Red Dress clothes. Red Dress then picks their favorite outfits from #rdbstyle and features them on their Instagram page. Red Dress has been holding weekly giveaways on Twitter and Instagram of certain outfits or gift cards for users who like the weekly photo, comment with their size, and then tag a friend to be entered in their weekly giveaways. My personal favorite, though, is Red Dress’ Pinterest boards. Their 44 different boards with over 20,000 pins range from looks for each season to lifestyle quotes, do-it-yourself projects, and even recipes.
    This innovative use of social media allows Red Dress to reach customers beyond its Athens, Georgia home. The ease of online shopping also makes it easier for shoppers to find the latest trends and outfit inspiration. I especially love their fall college game day outfits and different looks with a fur vest layered over with knee high boots.