Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Gates.
Hi Christina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have been in the wedding industry my whole life and the last ten years between coordinating and dress attire. Our family has always been into recycling and I worked for a friend who did wedding dress consignment, which was brilliant! So when the opportunity came to open our own storefront, Mother and Daughter duo jumped in. Bekah has a background in art and mom in interior design so it made sense to offer once loved dresses AND custom alterations and redesign.
Our storefront was tiny and dainty which was perfect for a startup but in year three, we had to upgrade our store to accommodate our appointments. Not only have the number of wedding dress shoppers increased but we needed more space for inventory because everyone is looking to consign their once loved gown. We are already thinking of opening more shops.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The first year was, of course, hard because no one knew we existed but in the Spring of 2020, we were rocking and rolling until… lockdowns. By summer, I was preparing to close shop but a burst of brides and alterations kept us afloat and by January, we were turning brides away because we couldn’t accommodate based on our square footage. Opening a new boutique, 3x bigger with no knowledge of future lockdowns, was pretty scary but the opportunity outweighed the anxiety, and we even hired a new stylist this last month!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Selling wedding dresses in our shop is about helping a girl fall in love with herself and we love building relationships with our brides. We have discovered that bringing them back in for alterations and custom re-designing is where we thrive. When a bride trusts us to go out of the box is when we really flourish and we have seen so many brides light up knowing we can add all the elements that they can dream up.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Bekah has the most creative and forward-thinking thought process! We are always thinking of the next thing we want to do.
Contact Info:
- Email: winsomebrides@gmail.com
- Website: www.winsomebrides.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winsomebrides/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winsomebridessd
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/winsome-brides-la-mesa-2
