A new start: Longtime friends open retail store after career change

As it has with so many across the country, the pandemic took its toll on Jennifer James and Cheryl Thaggard.

The longtime friends both worked for the American Cancer Society. But the ACS, following in the footsteps many businesses and organization had to take, had to reduce its workforce.

As luck would have it, James and Thaggard were among the millions laid off last year.

The two shifted gears and formulated a plan to go into business for themselves. On Thursday, those plans became reality with the opening of Fashion Apparel, which the friends-turned-business-partners described as an atypical retail store.

Located next to Snap Fitness on Coley Road in Tupelo, the store is open for a few weeks just two seasons of the year, in the spring and in the fall.

"We have everything from newborn baby clothes to big and tall women's clothes to everything in between," said Thaggard. "We also have accessories, jewelry, purses, shoes, bags. If you can put it on or carry it on your body, we'll have it."

The merchandise spans the spectrum of name brands, and it's all new. Everything starts at a 60% discount, which increases as the weeks pass until the close of each season.

James said she and Thaggard didn't come about their idea to own a store together on a whim. They talked and prayed a lot about it before jumping in.

"We weren't friends that just drank wine and said, 'Hey let's go buy a business,'" she said. "We worked together, knew each other's work ethic, and we knew how we approached projects, daily tasks and what each other's strengths and weaknesses are."

Fashion Apparel was already a business in Columbus, and James had been a longtime customer. When the owner decided to retire after some 30 years, she asked if he might be interested in selling the business rather than closing.

"When I told Cheryl that this was something I wanted to do, she said she would love to do it with me, and so that's how we got it started," she said. "She said she would jump with me."

They purchased the business in 2020 and learned as much as they could from the previous owner before he handed over the reins.

"We opened in Columbus in February for one last run in a store smaller than what they had, but we knew when we purchased it that we would move it to Tupelo," James said.

After looking around Tupelo for the right space, they found the perfect spot in the space that had formerly housed Fleet Feet.

The space is triple what the Columbus space was.

"We're only opened twice a year about 10 weeks — sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on our inventory," James said. "We're not a five-day a week retailer nor are we a competitor with them; we're only open on weekends.

"When you come in, everything is a percentage off, starting at 60% off what you see on the sticker. And it changes as we go along, increasing in percentage off. We really don't have a formula per se, but we do have certain metrics we use for taking percentages off."

Once the 90% off mark is reached, those prices are good for one last weekend and the store is shuttered until six months later for the next season.

Between those two seasons, James and Thaggard will hit the road — together, perhaps separately — to acquire merchandise for their store.

"We travel a lot to get merchandise, which is one reason why we're not open more often," James said.

In September, the store is open Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Fridays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

From October to mid-November, it will be open on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The merchandise is replenished daily during the seasons, James said.

"We restock every day, and the store may not look the same next weekend because we'll move around things, highlight different things as we get new merchandise," she said.

The store features a tremendous amount of inventory, James added. Repeat customers are unlikely to see the same item twice.

"You may see one or two of the same things but it's never the same store week to week ... there are no duplicates in the back," James said. "If you see four boxes of a certain shoe on the floor, that's it. When it's gone, we'll replace with another shoe. We may have four or five sizes of the same dress, but once it's gone, it's gone."

Fashion Apparel's information can be found in Facebook and Instagram, but it has no website or online store.

James said online sales isn't feasible because of the rapid turnover in merchandise.

"We can't possibly keep inventory for the store and online and keep track of it," she said. "We can't do that because we might only have one of something, and it wouldn't be fair to a local customer and have someone online somewhere else have it. I want our local people to be able to tell their friends they got it here at the store."