Shop Birdie
The staff at Beehive is learning the wonders of salt and vinegar.
Since reopening in May, shortly after Governor Greg Abbott announced retailers may resume in-person shopping at limited capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Beehive has upped its sanitation practices — like using electrolyzed water to disinfect clothing.
According to Lauren Neal, manager of Beehive’s Fort Worth location on Camp Bowie Boulevard, creating the solution is fairly simple. Salt, vinegar, and water go into a machine that electrolyzes the mix and creates a disinfectant that staff can spray onto clothing after a customer tries it on.
For boutiques like Beehive, it’s the new normal of doing business in the middle of a pandemic. Other local shops like Birdie and Esther Penn have also implemented new procedures, from steaming clothes and frequently disinfecting surfaces to setting aside time for deep cleaning. Beehive and Esther Penn are also requiring customers to wear face masks while shopping; Birdie is not.
Though shop owners are glad to be open again, they’re also grateful for the things they learned while temporarily closed.
Birdie, for example, launched at-home try-ons. Customers fill out an online questionnaire, answering questions about sizing, budget, and other details, then staff puts together a personalized box that gets delivered to the customer’s home. The customer then has 24 hours to try on the items and decide what they like or don’t. The things they like, they keep; and the things they don’t, Birdie will pick up and bring back to the store.
“People are having a lot of fun; we’ve had a lot of positive feedback,” says co-owner Brittany Voxland.
For Esther Penn, social media has played a big role in keeping customers engaged. Staff modeled the clothes themselves, posted photos, and made sales via Instagram.
“It’s where a lot of shopping is going,” Esther Penn co-owner Alyson Johnson says. “Being more present on social media, we learned a lot about that, and it works.”
But perhaps what helps business the most is the way small boutiques connect personally with their customers, Neal says.
“A lot of people [were] saying, ‘We want to keep you open. We want to support you.’ You can’t really dress up too much in a pandemic, so it was nice to see people purchasing things to help show their support for us,” she says. “We’ve definitely created that customer connection. Seeing them come back and be supportive of us is really awesome.”
