Imagine walking into a family wedding, a non-profit gala or a special event in your life knowing you look your best and that your outfit makes a perfect statement about you. Not every woman has the financial means to purchase a new outfit that this likely to be worn to just one party. Janet Mandell, headquartered on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, positions itself as a high-end, high-fashion solution to the high-drama dilemma many women encounter in their lives.
“The sustainability of fashion is very important to us,” said Janet Mandell, the visionary, founder and owner of the premier-fashion, rental retail store that bears her name. “Instead of wearing the dress once and throwing it out, what we do is rent that piece multiple times. That’s far better for the environment.”
This unique boutique opened in 2018 in Chicago, but now has additional locations in Los Angeles and New York City. All three stores carry the same philosophy when it comes to women finding haute couture at a price point that is a far less than the price of purchasing a new statement dress.
“Most women don’t want to purchase an evening dress that they’re only going to wear once,” said Mandell. “We also have cocktail dresses, shoes and bags (at Janet Mandell), but we focus mainly on evening rentals, because everyone’s either going to a wedding or black-tie wedding or a gala, or something that entails a black-tie formal wear.”
Mandell says the rise of social media has significantly influenced how women approach their wardrobes, especially for special occasions.
“Women don’t want to buy cocktail dresses or evening dresses because of social media these days,” Janet stressed. “Every time you wear a dress, it’s photographed and you can’t wear it more than once.”
“Women are very particular about wearing the same thing twice,” added Janet, with the insight of a woman who has been down this road more than a few times.
“Men wear suits. It’s usually black or grey, and they could wear it over and over again. Women are very self-conscious about wearing the same dress unless it’s black, and you can wear that little black dress with another pair of shoes in a different format. But if it’s a statement dress, you can’t wear that twice.”
An idea comes together
Janet’s pathway to fashion mogul was about as far removed from the smooth, sleek lines of a fashion runway as you can get.
“My background is not in fashion and it’s not in business. My background is in finance and accounting,” said Janet, highlighting the diverse skills that would later contribute to her success.
Janet says her first dive into the pool of entrepreneurism came in 2001 with the founding of a pet carrier business by the name of Pet Tote. Inspired by a pop culture trend of celebrities carrying small dogs, cats and other pets, Janet says she saw a gap in the market.
“It’s a handbag that you can carry little dogs in or cats, or hamsters, or whatever pet you have that’s small,“ explained Mandell. “I started that business with the idea when Paris Hilton had her own reality show. It was a really hot thing. Everybody bought little dogs. I said, ‘Well, where are the cute carriers? Where are the cute bags that you can carry your pet in?’ So, I designed a bag and my dad manufactured a couple prototypes for me.”
Janet says her business enjoyed initial success with roughly $40,000 worth of pet carriers sold at her first trade show. She cites that initial business venture as the foundation for her journey to launch Janet Mandell.
“I think that part of my success now is learning from some of the mistakes that I’ve experienced,” said Janet. “There’s nothing like experience when you’re starting your business. I think that has taught me to focus on being an entrepreneur rather than working 9 to 5 for another company. I personally don’t think I could work for somebody else.”
Janet Mandell, the retail store, became the brainchild of Janet Mandell, the retailer, amid a casual conversation with her husband.
“He said to me, ‘It would be so nice if you and I started a business together.’ I didn’t think that in depth, in detail, but automatically I said, ‘Of course.’ Then he said, ‘What do you think we should do?’ Top of my head, I said, ‘We should rent dresses.’”
Janet says the idea came to her because, for years, she had been lending friends her own collection of stylish dresses out of her closet collection at home.
Janet says that she and her husband were able to quickly launch the business because they used their own money and savings.
“We self-funded the business,” Janet explained, walking through the process. “We thought that it was a great idea initially, but after a few years in business, we came to the conclusion that it was not the best idea, because when you fund yourself, you’re using your own capital and your own savings. However, the pros to self-funding your own business is you can get started immediately. You don’t have to wait for money from the bank to approve you, and you don’t have to wait for investors to capitalize your idea.”
A fashionable and popular business
You need not step a full foot into Janet Mandell to realize that it caters to a specific clientele.
“Our typical customer is someone that’s social,” said Mandell. “Most of the women that do come in here, they send their kids to private school in Chicago. They have three kids. They don’t work. They’re really focused on health and fitness.”
The business model is deliberately exclusive.
“We are not for everybody, and yes, I am okay with that,” said Janet. “We are a high-end niche business. We cater to elite and professional women. There are other subscription-based rental companies that cater to a younger generation.”
The Janet Mandell experience is tailored to be unique and highly personalized for each customer, but also very approachable and welcoming.
“When the client comes in, we literally hold their hand the minute they walk in until the minute they leave,” said Mandell carefully describing how her customers are treated when they walk through her doors. “We introduce ourselves. I have an amazing staff of stylists. They (the stylists) ask a few questions. They sit down with the client. You’re offered wine, champagne, whatever you need. We sit down for five minutes and really get to know them. There’s things that women love about their body, but there’s other things that women do not love about their body. So, we really want to sit down and learn from the clients.”
With an inventory north of five thousand dresses, gowns as well as shoes, bags, jewelry and accessories, the team at Janet Mandell courteously helps its customers navigate the enormous selection.
“The dresses that we carry are one size, one of a kind,” explained Janet. “So, if a client loves a particular Valentino dress and she says, ‘Oh, do you have this in another size?’ We don’t carry multiple sizes in different styles.”
The idea is that once you decide on your outfit, it will be unique at your event. You won’t bump into someone else wearing the same dress.
Elegant and environmentally-conscious fashion
The shopping experience at Janet Mandell is designed to be substantive and memorable. There are other dress rental retail concepts for women out there, but none seem to possess the environmentally-conscious cachet espoused by Janet Mandell.
“Fast fashion has really hurt the environment. They (manufacturers) dump their clothing if it doesn’t sell in some rural area, and it is usually polyester, which is very hard to dissolve,” explained Mandell. “We focus on higher-end materials, higher-end designers, so that it will last longer than fast fashion.”
“The sustainability for us is recycling the wear more than once. Some of our clothing or dresses have been worn 20 times, and it still looks new,” explained Mandell. “To me, that’s important, because you’re not going and buying so many dresses, and then you’re tossing it.”
The team of stylists who work at Janet Mandell are credited by Janet as being key to the success of this business model. There is a palpable sense of wisdom that they carry along with sheer desire to keep their customers smiling.
“There is no way one person can do it all and be a successful business,” Janet emphasized. “I think that my team is the number one reason for success to our business model. It’s their impeccable customer service, their creative vision and their fashion knowledge.”
Looking to the future, Janet Mandell is expanding its online presence.
“We are changing our platform to create more of a conversion online so that people from Dallas, Miami, and Ohio can actually rent online instead of coming into our brick and mortar store,” revealed Mandell in addressing the high demand of customers nationwide.
Winning over hearts and minds
Janet seems to take nothing for granted when it comes to the success of Janet Mandel. She stresses the importance of being nice and staying grounded, despite the reality that she serves a customer base on the upper end of the income chain.
“Chicago is an amazing city. I think Illinois is an amazing state,” added Janet. “I think that a lot of people don’t really value who we are in Chicago, especially in fashion. But people are so nice here. That’s what I hear all the time. People in Chicago are so nice. I think that we can be a bigger city, and we can actually help each other as retailers if we put our ego aside a little bit.”
“I love being a retailer because you get to work with people and I love people. Why do I love people? Because you learn from them. Whether it’s good or bad, you learn from people. Some people are nice. Some people are good,” said Janet with a smile. “You learn how to deal with people that are not so nice. Because what you do is you just keep being nice. And then eventually, they’ll crack.”
Dress like you own it
In an industry with a reputation of being cutthroat, Janet Mandell implicitly acknowledges you can be the belle of the ball without breaking the bank. In fact, the store has a catchphrase that resonates with this story: “Dress Like You Own It.”
In the spirit of being all-inclusive, Janet offered up a wealth of wise advice for retailers wanting to pursue their own business dream.
“When considering starting a retail business, I would suggest that you have a solid business plan and a business model,” explained Janet. “Really focus on one or two things that you want to sell. When you sell 10 million things because you want to sell shoes and gum and toys, it’s too much in one retail space. Focus on what you believe you can sell. Because, as a business owner in retail…you have to sell, sell, sell in order to be profitable. What are you passionate about when it comes to selling? For me, if I’m not passionate about fashion, I wouldn’t be here.”
“I think the other focus that most small business retailers don’t understand is location,” added Janet. “When you open a retail location, envision who’s coming in. Where do you want to open? Where do you think your customers are? What are you selling? Where are your customers based? All of those questions are really important.”
“Every time we deal with a new client or an existing client, every time we see them there’s something we learn from them,” said Janet with a big smile. “Their personality actually comes out more. They’re a lot more comfortable with us versus the first time. And they’re usually very happy because they say, ‘Wow, your staff is so nice.’ And ‘they’re so incredible.’ That’s what we want to hear.”
