Underlines speaks to Jude Hough, who took over ownership of the independent shop, Linda Rose (Alcester), on 1st December 2019 and after just a few months of very successful trading faced the shutdown. However with Jude’s career and background, setbacks are something to be overcome as we find out in her rich and fascinating career.
Life before Lingerie
Although this is her first ever shop Jude has a rich background in retail, working in Fosters Menswear before and during University (where she studied textiles at Goldsmiths London) and then after a brief gap, returning as a trainee buyer where she learnt everything about buying, sourcing, negotiating, merchandising and range planning and travelling with work. From there she went to T J Hughes as childrenswear buyer and she comments: “I already had a relentless work ethic but T J Hughes was a culture like no other. It was a huge iconic brand in Liverpool and lived on its weekly promotions run in the Liverpool Echo … it was not unusual to find me driving stock through Liverpool stores late on a Friday to make sure they had enough for the next day’s sales!”.
Inspired by the childrenswear market she had intended to open her own chain of childrenswear stores but in a surprise turn whilst looking for premises she was offered a lucrative job at Independent Energy (now npower) and she climbed the corporate ladder there for the next 10 years.
Children followed but during her maternity leave, Jude invented a product to help with potty training – with a partner she set up ‘Dry With Me’ which achieved a global patent, raising £1million in funding to launch to major supermarkets (at its height it was stocked in Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys and ASDA with a large Amazon business supplying Amazon). “Dragons Den meets the Apprentice,” she laughs. America beckoned and Jude pitched to Toys R Us in 2018 – 3 months after launch and several hundreds of thousand pounds poorer Toys R Us went into administration leaving large debts and huge amounts of stock tied up.
Jude said it was a financial blow that her business could never fully recover from and the business was closed down in early 2019 but she still has the curious moniker of being the UK’s No. 1 Potty Training Expert with around 60K followers across social media platforms!
She says that although she has had a large slice of bad luck, she had learnt the valuable lesson of entire focus on one project and this is what she has brought to Linda Rose. “It was pure serendipity that Linda Rose Lingerie was up for sale, I felt it was meant to be. The timing was perfect for me and anyone who knows me will know that as a previous customer I had said many times: ‘if Linda Rose ever comes up for sale I will buy it’ and so I did!
“The location appealed to me as this is where I live and I knew that it over indexed on its turnover, bringing to the town destination shoppers – the previous owner had built up a fantastic reputation and very steady business. I felt I could honour that and also take it forward to make it even more successful by increasing online business which was non-existent and attracting a new kind of customer with an updated and expanded product offer.
Photo: Stratford Herald
“At 47 I am pleased to finally be buying and selling something that I love and am an avid customer of. I have done many things in my career but coming into lingerie and womenswear feels like coming home!”
Kicking off on 1st December 2019 Jude’s ambition for Year One was ‘Don’t break the business’: in other words to learn from her customers and don’t fix what isn’t broken. “I planned to match Linda’s prior year sales, update the interior, bring online in for Autumn 2020 and build from there.”
“retail is relentless – there is never a time to sit back and relax”
By February 2020 she was trading up and new customers were coming from places such as Stratford on Avon bringing an uplift in sales. Her energy and expertise in social media was also starting to pay dividends and she hosted her first instore fashion show on 1st February which created record breaking sales since the shop first opened in 2006.
But then came COVID-19! How did Jude deal with a setback in retail like none other?
“I am an inherently optimistic person and retail is not for the faint-hearted. I knew from experience that you are only as good as your last week’s sales and that retail is relentless – there is never a time to sit back and relax but as Mary Portas has commented ‘the future of the High Street lies in independent retail.’ I believe this even more than ever since this crisis. We have seen more boring, faceless and uninspiring chains lose their place on the High Street (businesses run by accountants and not traders or retailers) and I am inspired by the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
“I had already started online at the start of the crisis and I have a £20 WIX website I built myself (I can be surprisingly techy when it suits me!) and although not fit for long-term purpose its ROI is off the scale so I will stick with it for now. The trend for bralettes and non-wired items is evident and I sold out during lockdown and I am not afraid to offer those usually lower priced products to customers when they come in – it is not always about selling the most expensive item in the shop. It is nice sometimes to surprise my customer with fabulous but less expensive items – stylish but affordable – and build up a loyalty with customers who will come back time and again. I run a retail democracy – everyone can be fabulous in my boutique”.
And what of the future for independents in terms of future-proofing their businesses?
“We have to remember we have something unique as independent retailers – having had a large online Amazon business in my past my mantra is the High Street has to be everything Amazon isn’t. We cannot compete with the transactional element but why should we? Customers want to come out and be thrilled and excited when they shop – even more since 
they have missed out for months. Chatting, gossiping, having a bit of a laugh and essentially giving them our time are huge advantages.
“Meanwhile I am growing my social media presence but it does take a lot of time and effort. Social media customers do turn into real customers in my experience – but not instantly – and that puts some busy business owners off putting precious time into it. It is clear that followers like the fact that there is a real shop behind the online concept. There are no instant results but in my mind it is worth doing and it is a good way to know your numbers – that is how many hits I need to get an online sale. I have picked up customers from all over the UK during lock-down and I don’t want to lose them, they are key to my recovery.
“It is a responsibility that we always find something new for our customers – of course we can be relied on for the classical brands but I want to have surprises for them too, be new and fresh. That’s why heavy discounting is a problem: we don’t want to look like a jumble sale or lose our edge. It is up to us to drive our own agenda and not follow the pack – that is why we are independent, the clue is in the title!”
And how has business been since you re-opened your doors?
“I had a full calendar of appointments (with online pre-booking) in the first week which slightly dropped off the second week. You have to keep your nerve – we do suffer from pubs and cafes staying shut longer than we did. But the customers feel they are doing good by shopping locally and supporting their independents – there is a sense that we are all in this together. And I have not had customers asking for discount or expecting it either, I really intend to hold off on discount sales as long as I can. They are just thrilled that we are still here, open and thriving.
“Things change daily: the recent traffic light system for holidays saw us start to gain our first customers for swimwear and that looks set to grow. I also feel that once people make the decision to shop they have made the decision, they can see that all the necessary protection is in place for them and they welcome our efforts. Once inside they can relax and enjoy the shopping experience.
“We have chairs and tables outside the shop along with other retailers and customers are delighted – a touch of the Mediterranean comes to Alcester – partners can sit outside or customers can wait until there is space in the shop.
And what of the future – where do you see the business in 5 years?
“I would like larger premises but still in Alcester and I anticipate I will have a thriving online business but would also like to expand to another store or two. The previous owner, Linda Randell, built up something fantastic and I love it. This said, I do want to use it as a springboard to go further.”
