Pineberry Boutique offers unique handmade fashion and accessories

This business began as a small blogshop operation and has now grown to become a full fledged brick and click business.

Note how the business is really an extension of the owner, born of her ideas and personal interest.

Pineberry Boutique offers unique handmade fashion and accessories

By Ting Chiong Ping
From: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=66782

Posted on October 5, 2010, Tuesday

KUCHING: Some of us have received gifts over the years that we still hold on to until this very day.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT: Chiang sitting at her boutique's unique counter that resembles a quaint shop window. 

More often than not, the gift is of sentimental value, even more so if it is handmade; be it a card or an intricately-knitted sweater.

For Chiang Khai Ching, proprietress of Pineberry Boutique, this is a feeling she wishes to evoke through her artistic creations.

What started out as a clicks-only business recently through social networking media such as Facebook and blogs, has turned into a full-fledged business for Chiang.

“My interest in fashion is actually down to my mother. Since I was a child, I’ve always dreamt of putting my ideas to fruition, partly influenced by her interest in sewing and crocheting garments,” she enthused.

Currently, her boutique located at the third floor of the newly-opened OneJaya Lifestyle Mall at Jalan Song here offers a multitude of her personal creations in the form of clothes and also accessories.

She explained that her setup costs of renovating the place and procuring inventory ran up to approximately RM30,000.

HANDMADE CREATIONS: A sample of the multiple handmade creations available at Pineberry Boutique. 

In addition to the handcrafted clothing items and accessories such as bags and ornamental decorations, Chiang also saw potential in the conventional retail model of boutiques.

However, her boutique’s tailored system was such that she only brought in limited quantities of these items as she wanted her clientele to be different from others.

“My aim is to provide everyone one of my customers a distinctive product. For example, there will only be a particular style of blouse that will be on display. Even though the style may be the same, the size and colour will not,” Chiang stated.

This was a further extension of her core offerings as she travelled regularly and kept up with the latest fashion trends to understand the scope of her customers’ needs.

While her shop was mainly aimed at young female adults, there had been requests on the part of her customers for other market segments.

“We are taking things one step at a time, as we feel that quality is of the essence where the business is concerned. We want to create an identity synonymous with the Pineberry vision of quality products, where each individual can flaunt their personality styles with our inimitable lineup of merchandise,” Chiang concurred.
For that matter, she divulged that her inventory turnover was within a period of three to four months.

“This ensures that our lineup of products are always fresh and appealing. Surely, fashion trends change over time and we must evolve with the times,” said Chiang.

On the issue of online business ventures, she was of the opinion that the Sarawak market had much to catch up on.

“Most of my customers from the online segment are from Peninsular Malaysia. The community there is much more comfortable with the idea of buying things online.

“On the other hand, Sarawakians are much more cautious and believe in the tried-and-tested ethos of physically inspecting the goods before purchase,” Chiang added.

Thus, she agreed that a brick-and-click presence was beneficial to her business.

For the benefit of outstation customers, Chiang provided courier services.

“Above all, I want to inspire any young entrepreneurs out there, that if you set your heart to do something, it is not impossible.

“It may be a rough journey at first, but with enough conviction and effort, one’s dreams can be realised,” she said.

Chiang also counted her blessings as her parents were fully supportive of her business venture.

Pineberry Boutique’s creations can be found online at http://pineberryboutique.blogspot.com and http://thread-whispers.blogspot.com.

Alternately, one can e-mail pineberryboutique@yahoo.com, call Chiang at 016-8969530 or join Pineberry Boutique’s Facebook page.