If you buy that new dress for your cousin's wedding at Hush Clothing and Accessories, you can be sure you won't run into yourself at the reception. Not only does the Winnipeg boutique register your purchase to ensure no one else attending the same party buys it, Hush stocks no more than six of any one item (two in each of three sizes), and, owner Melissa Choy says, “If it's good, it's gone in two days. And once it's gone, it's gone. We never repeat our stock.”
Choy, 28, says her 200-square-metre shop, located in the city's tony Osborne Village, carries the kind of clothing you might find at Club Monaco. “Except,” she points out, “the chain will sell 10,000 pieces, while we sell six.”
Not only that, Choy says, Hush is way ahead of the chain stores in the trend department. That's because she uses the services of a professional buyer in Los Angeles. “As soon as a trend comes out,” Choy says, “my buyer goes straight to the manufacturer. We get stuff three or four months ahead of the box stores.”
And then there are the prices.
“People in town from Calgary or Vancouver tell me that a top we sell for $50 would sell for $100 in those larger cities,” Choy says. “Out-of-town people just go nuts.”
Hush carries more than 100 labels, among them Necessary Objects, Hot Kiss, Lush Clothing, Ruby Rox, Pixie, Faviana, Flip Dresses, Final Touch and Synikal evening dresses from local design sensation Byron Abad at prices ranging from $40 to $350.
Choy's aim to provide one-stop shopping for special occasions means that she stocks everything from outerwear, hats, purses and shoes to boots by BC Footwear and Michael Antonio and Volatile, and jewellery from Only, Cpak and Apple Juice. She has plans to sell a line of handmade jewellery designed by local jeweller Holly Rose. And although Hush caters to a fairly refined clientele, the atmosphere is casual and relaxed, Choy says. “We play nice music. We have a couple of big leather chairs and a pile of magazines, and we serve bottled water to customers.”
The shop, which opened a little more than a year ago, is the realization of a lifelong dream for Choy. “I've worked really hard,” she says. “I moved back home to my parents' house. I sold my car to do this.”
Choy started out as a freelance designer with her own line of clothing called May-Lai. At her first retail store, called Yee-Lai, she sold edgy alternative clothing and T-shirt-making services. She closed the shop after it was robbed a couple of times, and has been looking for a new location ever since. Recently, the space next door to Hush became available and later this month, Choy will open another edgier boutique called Shout.
Shout will be like Hush's younger rocker sister, selling custom T-shirts, and stocking thousands of decals, prints and letters for personalized heat-setting.
Shout will also carry belt buckles and studded belts to go with the tattoo-inspired T-shirts.
“Osborne Village is really young and trendy, so we have the rocker, more edgy customer plus the dressy, trendy customer. With the two stores, I just wanted to cover both bases.”
Hush Clothing and Accessories, 209-99 Osborne St., Winnipeg, 204-474-1208
