From outside their homes and in the Niagara Falls Fashion Outlets, two city residents have opened a new store offering women’s fashion clothing.
Alpha Femme offers all kinds of formal wear for events, elegant clothes for going out on the town and casual clothes for everyday use. Store owners Michaela Crumpler and Brionna Harris, both Niagara Falls natives, had previously run clothing businesses out of their homes, Harris focusing on children’s clothing and Crumpler on women’s clothing.
Crumpler has always been interested in fashion, wanted to be a buyer for a major clothing brand, and started working in retail in high school. Some Fashion Outlet stores where he has worked are Calvin Klein, Charlotte Russe and Burlington Shoes Encore. Harris also worked at Charlotte Russe and other mall stores when he was younger.
“We were both into fashion, we were friends and we would see what’s new and what’s trending on Instagram,” Crumpler said. “Then we both ran into that problem where we found ourselves sorting out most of our clothes for ourselves. So it was like we had that problem, I know it’s a problem for other women as well.”
Crumpler ran his home business for seven years part-time while working full-time. He made it his full-time job during the COVID-19 pandemic to stay home with his daughter. Harris had been making hers for a year.
About a year ago, the two began talking about combining their businesses and setting up their own store, as while they were successful, they both had trouble making deliveries, people coming to their homes to pick them up, and people not. They could try the clothes on before buying.
“We post on our social media what we have and then it would be kind of a pickup and delivery rather than where you can try on, you can go in and look for stuff,” Crumpler said. “So it wasn’t really an ideal situation.”
At first they wanted one in downtown Niagara Falls, close to where they live, but decided to get space at the Fashion Outlets. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging in the community and other personal issues, as well as seeing some available spaces at the mall, the time was not right. The right time, they decided, was earlier this year.
Since Alpha Femme opened on October 16, business has been slow during the day and picks up on the weekends, but more people are coming with Crumpler and Harris working to get their name out there. The two are working with the mall’s marketing team to let people know they’re here.
Alpha Femme’s location has it surrounded by Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, Vera Bradley and Clarks, among other more established brands. While Crumpler knew it would be up against competition, the variety of different things they sell is very different from what other stores sell.
“I feel like as long as we keep that separation where we have different things, I think we’ll be fine,” Crumpler said. “Even the girls from Windsor come and look at our stuff.”
The two only had a two-month window to move in and set up their inventory, so once again they want to get back to work on design and layout. When their name is more widely known, Crumpler sees them hosting fashion shows and photo shoots.
The name Alpha Femme is because Crumpler and Harris consider themselves to be dominant women, and to them, that means someone who is confident, trendsetting, achieving her goals, overcoming life’s obstacles, and looking good while doing it.
“We just wanted something for women who are confident, like to dress up, go out, have fun and look good,” Crumpler said.
For Small Business Saturday, Alpha Femme will offer coupon cards to the first 40 customers to walk in today and Sunday, along with a basket raffle and other goodies.
Source: news.google.com