Attire Accessories - Mar/Apr 2018 (Issue 69)

ATTIRE 81 RETAILER INTERVIEW How do you set yourself apart from your nearest competitors? We only stock work that is made or designed by independent designers and tiny brands, which is quite a special position to be in.There are brands we’ve worked with for 10 years or more, but we’re always looking for something new and embrace trends that fit in with our company brand. What is your product offering and how do you go about sourcing your stock? We mainly sell jewellery, but have branched out to sell a small selection of art, t-shirts and other small accessories. We like niche and cult products and like to find things that might not be easily available in the UK. Most of the work we stock is produced by tiny companies of one or two people, this means we often look outside of the usual trade fairs. I never really switch off from this part of running a business and on every shopping trip or holiday I always keep an eye open for new and exciting things we can bring to the store and customers. What is your customer base? It feels like we cover a lot! People who like something a bit different and like to find special presents for friends and partners too. When was your website launched and how does this support your bricks and mortar store? We launched our website in 2004, six years before our bricks and mortar location. This means we already had a really solid and loyal customer base and the online side of the business is just as important to us now as when we first opened. We have customers visiting the shop from all over the world who have made the trip to the shop because of our website, social media or online interactions with us, which is really flattering. How important is the back story to the company? Our customers are always interested to know about ‘Hannah’, who she is and where the name came from. ‘Hannah’ isn’t actually real and the names comes from the Japanese ‘hanazakari’, which means blossoming or blooming! We like to know about the designers we stock too so we can pass on some info about where our products have come from and the meaning behind them. What has been your stand-out moment since opening the store, and why? Back in 2008 I took the shop to the first ever Bust Craftacular craft market in London and as a result of that I was interviewed by the Guardian newspaper. At that time the craft scene and indie markets were just starting to take off in the UK and it felt like the start of something really special.Those two things gave Hannah Zakari a huge customer boost and really opened my eyes to what we could achieve. I often wonder if we’d ever have become so popular had that not happened. What are your future plans for the business? I’ve been considering opening another store for a while now and that’s a possibility in the next year or two, it’s just a case of finding the right location. A A Contact Hannah Zakari +44 (0)131 516 3264 hannahzakari.co.uk