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One business closes, another opens |
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By Jamie Ziemer
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Tuesday, 13 February 2007 |
 | Whipkey follows passion for fashion into personal service As one door closed, another opened for Wanda Whipkey.
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Whipkey found herself at a crossroad when Scott’s Limited, a downtown clothing store, was closing its doors late last year.
Owner Susan Scott decided it was time to retire and close her more than 21-year-old business that Whipkey had been a part of for 19 years.
That decision dominoed into an opportunity that Whipkey couldn’t let slip by.
She wasn’t ready to retire and
wasn’t too excited about working for another retailer, so she decided to run with a business idea she had toyed with for a few years.
Last December, she started Wardrobing by Wanda, which helps people find the right outfit or expand their wardrobe options by buying virtually nothing new. Her venture provides people with a personal shopping service and a hand at organizing their closets.
Whipkey saw the need after helping many of her regular customers at Scott’s Limited shop for the right outfit and even organizing a few clients’ disarrayed closets.
Former customers would call the store to make an appointment with Whipkey.
“It was old-school retail,” she said. “I had very loyal customers and many customers that became my friends.”
And she knew there was a calling for her new business in today’s service-oriented society, she said. Many service businesses such as pre-made suppers and cleaning companies have evolved out of people’s busy schedules.
People are willing to hire someone who can do routine tasks better than they can, and then they can concentrate on the things they are good at, Whipkey said.
Her past customers at the store really sparked her interest.
“I thought Sioux Falls was too small, but it’s not,” she said.
Scott’s Limited’s mission was to serve people, and that’s what Whipkey wants to continue to do through her new business, she said.
“I think my whole mission is to help my clients start the day off better,” she said.
Val Putnam is a longtime Scott’s Limited customer whom Whipkey assisted for 15 years.
Putnam said she doesn’t see Whipkey’s business as a luxury for those who can afford it but as a service to help people save time and money.
“I feel there is a need because women don’t want to waste their time, and someone who has that sense of style and budget is a great service,” Putnam said.
Whipkey’s amazing memory came as an asset to her work at the store. She could remember what customers bought years before and what they had in their wardrobes.
“I would always make sure I would go to Wanda because she knew my wardrobe and had a great sense of history of what I purchased 10 years before. It saved me time and money,” Putnam said. “She just has a very good sense of style and color and seemed to know what was appropriate for my age and profession and that worked well, and she stayed within the budget I was looking for.”
Whipkey’s main goal of auditing clients’ closets is helping them realize how they can make several different outfits with only a few pieces of clothing. Just putting different pieces of jewelry and scarfs with outfits can create a new look, she said.
She has decreased people’s wardrobe and increased the number of outfits they could wear.
“You’re in a box when you’re in fashion. I’m just trying to lay out those sides of the box,” she said.
Fit is the biggest factor of what gets taken out of the closet.
“It’s all about fit. Then we’ll talk about fashion,” she said.
She also makes sure the outfits fit into that person’s lifestyle.
“Why not say, ‘This is what I’m wearing and I look good’,” she said.
Whipkey has helped people from younger than 30 to 98.
Her personal shopping service isn’t just for women. She has helped men shop for their wives and daughters, or even for themselves.
“I never shop without a plan for a customer,” she said.
And she’s a big proponent of shopping at small businesses.
In a testimonial, Susan Scott wrote that Whipkey was a very valuable employee to Scott’s Limited.
“Her honest interest in her customer’s wardrobe needs and desires, and her breezy, fun and upbeat personality make Wanda a natural in customer service,” Scott said. “She makes wardrobing and shopping a very positive experience. Scott’s Limited would not have been as successful without her.”
Before coming to Scott’s Limited, Whipkey worked at Osborne’s, a men’s clothing store that was in the same spot as Scott’s Limited.
After Osborne’s closed, Whipkey took time off to raise her daughters. She remembers when Scott’s Limited first opened, and she liked the clothes.
She told herself: “If I ever go back to work, that’s where I am going to work.” And two years later she did.
“I love fashion. I think I was born in a blazer,” she said.
The Whipkey file
Name: Wanda Whipkey
Occupation: Owner of Wardrobing by Wanda, which offers personal shopping, effective packing for vacations and closet organization
Age: 60
Hometown: Rapid City
Education: Earned a degree in business administration at Augustana College
Background: Managed Osborne’s, a men’s clothing store in Sioux Falls; took a break to raise her two daughters for nine years; worked for Scott’s Limited for 19 years until December 2006
Family: Husband, Lee; two daughters, Kari, 32, and Kristen, 27; and two grandchildren
Hobbies and interests: Spending time with her grandchildren, gardening, knitting and church activities |
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