The Pink Door

The Sorority Collection!

2011-10-03T10:49:00.001-05:00

Lilly lovers,

I am sooooo excited to FINALLY be able to show y'all the sorority line! Whoohoo! If you would like to order anything you see, shoot us an email at pinkdoormemphis@gmail.com or call us at 901-682-2107. We already have a list started... So, hurry and make sure that you pre-order your items ASAP!

Here is the new sorority line...

1. CHI OMEGA

Shhh… don’t tell the other sororities, but we had the most fun making your owl!! So cute & fun- just like the Chi O’s in our office J We created pop with your carnation and weaved in diamonds and pearls for some Chi O bling. And if you’re wise, you’ll be able to find the hidden Lilly! (hint, hint)

The Original Tote - $88
Murfette Scarf - $78
Carded ID Wristlet - $38
Zippity-do Make Up - $38

2. KAPPA DELTA

This intricate print is like a treasure hunt- we had so much fun hiding EVERYTHING in this print!! Shells? Duh, of course. Pearls, Diamonds & Emeralds. YES please! A rose? Also duh. A bear? Why not! A dagger and skull & crossbones? Wait. What?? Oooh yes- Lilly girls love surprises so we couldn’t resist!

The Original Tote - $88
Murfette Scarf - $78
Carded ID Wristlet - $38
Zippity-do Make Up - $38

3. DELTA GAMMA

Was it any wonder we’d be inspired by your anchor?! Our Lilly DG girls told us it was an important symbol of hope so we knew we wanted to give it focus & keep the integrity of its shape. And the colors- of course we were going to love your colors!! We dropped in the sprays of the cream colored rose and punched it up with some Lilly pink! And we wouldn’t dare put thorns on your rose- do you know what we replaced it with instead??

The Original Tote - $88
Murfette Scarf - $78
Carded ID Wristlet - $38
Zippity-do Make Up - $38

4. ALPHA DELTA PI

The ADPi girls were loud & proud about wanting their Lilly print which inspired us to give their lion a … well lion share of the attention in this print. The coat of arms was fun to create and the woodland violet and stars were the perfect vehicle for pops of a complimentary color creating depth and sophistication - just like the ADPi girls, right??

The Original Tote - $88
Murfette Scarf - $78
Carded ID Wristlet - $38
Zippity-do Make Up - $38

5. DELTA DELTA DELTA

We didn’t have to “tri” to hard to get this one right! Let’s see – it goes a little something like this: One part pearl (okay maybe two parts), a dash of pine (we love a good dose of green) and a hint pansy (you know we know florals)! But that’s not all – you will also find the dolphin mascot throughout…it’s just so cute AND it calls the ocean home. Check!

The Original Tote - $88
Murfette Scarf - $78
Carded ID Wristlet - $38
Zippity-do Make Up - $38

6. KAPPA ALPHA THETA

Though we knew the black & gold colors of Kappa Alpha Theta would give us a wee bit of a challenge, we absolutely loooved getting playful with the kite. The breeze was a fun way for us to show how the first Greek lettered sorority spread across the nation! Of course we added the pansy and star and think this print has True Promise! ;)

The Original Tote - $88
Murfette Scarf - $78
Carded ID Wristlet - $38
Zippity-do Make Up - $38

7. KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA

The Original Tote - $88
Murfette Scarf - $78
Carded ID Wristlet - $38
Zippity-do Make Up - $38

*Please note, we are not receiving any Alpha Phi or Delta Zeta collections. We would be more than happy to place a special order. :)

xoxo,
Semmes

More of the 9/25 Delivery! :)

2011-09-23T12:26:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon Lilly lovers!

So, Shannon and I have decided to have a blog article (is that what it is called?) every week on what to wear and how to accessorize. We are going to try to show y'all several different ways to wear an outfit. So, look for "Shannon Says" beginning next week!

First, here are a couple more outfits with some styling tips....

OUTFIT #1 - The Jeanette with Opening Night Clutch

My absolute favorite part of the dress is the back... How FABULOUS!!!!! I am all about the exposed zipper.

I would also add Kate Spade's Licorice shoes... Seriously, how FABULOUS?!?! Also, I would pair Towne and Reese's Henley Ruby earrings and some gold bangles (these are from Ralph Lauren). What a PERFECT party outfit. Can't you just see wearing this little number to a Christmas party with a yummy cocktail in your hand. You will be the talk of the night :)

OUTFIT #2 - The Shauna Tunic Dress with Murfee Scarf Jacquard in Gold and Elephant Bow Tie Clutch

Shannon also has a Lilly Pulitzer Murfee Scarf in a gold jacquard on, but I do not have a stock photo for that. I would pair some fabulous, black pumps, like Charles David's Castile pumps. Also, I would love to put Towne and Reese's (we just got a shipment of their jewelry, so you can tell that I am in love with it!)Jacqueline gold earrings and, again, some gold bangles will complete this look.

What do y'all think? Love it, right?!?! This new delivery is GREAT!!! Well, look for next weeks segment(s) of "Shannon Says." Shannon is beyond excited about this, so let's give her some great feedback! :)

xoxo,

Semmes

Lilly Pulitzer 9/25 Delivery!

2011-09-22T13:28:00.000-05:00

First, I have been a bad blogger :( I have been all in all business mood lately analyzing sales reports, profit growth plans, business plans, etc. But, this NEW and FABULOUS delivery has kicked me out of my business mood into a PARTY mood! Why? Well, this delivery screams party and cocktails! :) It is filled with precious dresses and outfits to help any Lilly girl transition from day to night.

Our new-ish employee, Shannon, is a DREAM at accessorizing! When you have that nagging question of "what will I wear with this?!?" Shannon is the master at helping you out. She also LOVES this new delivery, so she played dress up. Here are a couple outfits (more will be posted tomorrow) with some of Shannon and my accessory suggestions! Enjoy!

OUTFIT #1 - The Connie with Resort Chic Wedges in Chocolate Brown

Well, I also think that you need a precious every day bag with this outfit. My choice would be Tory Burch's Robinson Metallic Bag. Also, these earrings, the Blake, from Towne are Reese would complete the look (we just ordered them today, so they should be in our store soon!).

OUTFIT #2 - The Julianna with Opening Night Clutch

For the shoes, I LOVE Kate Spade's Karmen shoes in black. Also, I would choose just some fun gold hoops and the Makenzi bracelets from Towne and Reese to add a pop of color.

Whoohoo! All sooooooo cute! Order ASAP before this fabulous line is gone. What do y'all think? Any other styling tips? :)

xoxo,

Semmes

Our Facebook Fans!

2011-09-02T14:11:00.002-05:00

Hi!

Yesterday, I had to go to a hospital/clinic for a surgical procedure. This was my first time to get an IV (umm... ouch!!!!), go under anesthesia, and have any sort of surgical procedure done. I was soooo scared and nervous. Well, after the IV (again, ouch!), they gave me the good stuff and knocked me out! My sweet momma was with me, so after the procedure, she got to see me come out of sedation. Apparently, I was asking for more drugs (lol), telling the nurses I was a Southern lady with pride, and I had the best dreams about The Pink Door!!! When I came coherent, and my momma told me everything I said, my first thought was, "Wow, I think about The Pink Door and Lilly Pulitzer even in my subconscious! I need another hobby!" I really devote majority of my time to The Pink Door. Even after store hours, I am always on facebook, seeing what y'all are saying, reading blogs, looking at other store's facebook pages, and thinking how can I make our store the best!

Then.... I went home and slept and slept and slept... Then, slept a little more... Haha... When I FINALLY came to, I read all the comments from our Facebook fans (www.facebook.com/thepinkdoormemphis), and it really made me feel better both physically and about devoting all my time to my store. I know why I am so committed and devoted to The Pink Door and, more importantly, Lilly Pulitzer. It is because of Y'ALL!!!!! All those comments reminded me how FABULOUS and GREAT all the Lilly lovers truly are! It reminded me that we all are a family, sharing a similar lifestyle of Lilly Pulitzer and a similar fabulous and colorful outlook. :) I just have to say, I love my Lilly family!

Here are a just couple posts that literally brought a tear to my eye... Actually, every post filled me with joy! :)

Abbie T., "....I ♥ the ladies at The Pink Door because they are always so cheerful and have such great customer service! Thanks ladies!"

Cheryl S., " became a huge fan of the Pink Door from the first time I called and made a purchase. They had a pair of coral McKims on sale and I was reluctant to buy them because I didn't think they would match anything. Mimi took them all over the store, held them up to items, describing to me over the phone how well they matched everything! They are my favorite McKims and matched Peel and Eat beautifully this summer!" My mom, Mimi, is the sweetest!

Debbie F., "Love Lilly for helping live a colorful life, the Pink Door for loving their fans, and this giveaway for the neat stuff, esp cooler, that you don't see just anywhere!"

Emily R., "Love the Pink Door blog! Great giveaway :)"

Kate R., "I love that the pink door is so personal! They are my favorite lilly store."

Emily W., "I love the wonderful customer service at the Pink Door!!! Your sweet note in my order made my day."

Shaina M., "The Pink Door is amazing!! They helped me find my birthday dress after months of searching for the print!! True Lilly Lovers ♥"

Mary Elizabeth L., "I love the Pink Door!! They go above and beyond to help.They even held up dresses and let me take pictures to text to my daughter to find the perfect one! Love you!"

Libby S., "Lilly makes me happy! And they couldn't be nicer at the Pink Door!"

Charlotte E., "Lilly and the Pink Door are my "happy place"! :)"

Okay.... I could copy and paste around 150 more, but y'all get the idea.... So, THANK YOU to each and every one of y'all! It is amazing how a little nice comment can really make someone's day soooo much better (esp. after being in the hospital all morning)! I LOVE Y'ALL!

So..... our 1,000 facebook fan giveaway winner of the Lilly Pulitzer printed cooler, lunch box, dopp kit, and camera case was Danielle Forger. Yay!!!! Because y'all really were beyond fabulous, I decided to giveaway a Lilly Pulitzer printed pencil case and car magnet to two other lucky Lilly fans, Ashley Kohrt and Shannon Pennington Griffin! CONGRATS!

I love doing these giveaways! I canNOT wait until we hit even MORE fans, so we can do ANOTHER giveaway... Whoohoo!!!

xoxo,

Semmes

Spring 2012 Market and the Lilly Market Experience

2011-08-30T15:53:00.001-05:00

Lilly lovers,

It is that time again... My mom and I were up at King of Prussia to The Pink Palace for Spring 2012 market. OMG!!!!!! AMAZING! Just one words: Flowers! :)

Lilly Pulitzer market is my absolute favorite part about this job. First, I get to see all my fabulous Lilly friends, both the Lilly employees and other Signature Store owners and managers. I LOVE catching up with everyone, hearing all their fun stories, seeing how their store (and the line) is doing, etc. We really are a family. :)

Second, I LOVE getting to see the new line! As soon as we get there, after breakfast and quickly catching up, we go into meetings all morning long. We first hear about the Lilly Pulitzer as a whole, Lilly's business growth plan, Lilly's product vision, then onto the Signature Store channels overview. Next, we get to hear about the product concept, design inspiration, seasonal themes, color schemes, fashion trends, etc. Then, after lunch time, we are given our line sheets, and we get to see each delivery by Ladies, Kids, Men, and Accessories. We get to see the product, key looks for each delivery, strategies behind each delivery, etc. After all that, it is cocktail time then dinner time (where all the fun catching up happens).

After a jammed packed first day, then next day it is more meetings (marketing, licensing appointments, etc.), then it is order or "assortment" writing time. This is the most stressful part of market. It is so exciting to see all the new stuff, but then it gets hard to actually think about what your customers will want like, what will work in Memphis (weather is a HUGE factor)... Then, you have to think about how much of one item you should get, the sizing of the item, which color to choose, etc... You have to look at what to items bring in for each delivery (i.e. pink polos would look better in delivery 1 and blue polos in delivery 2). You also need the majority of the line represented. And, you have to make sure that everything "flows" nicely together. Also, you have to consider what your top 10 customers will want (and special order things for them)... Pheww!!!

Ohh yeah, then you have to make sure that you have outfits, the right percentage of bottoms vs. tops. You also have to make sure that you have the correct percentage of each delivery as well as each category (i.e. delivery 1 should be 25% of your total order, and dresses should be 73% of this order). Finally, your order has to coincide with your business plan and your growth plan. Gotta make sure that you spend enough $$$. :) You have to make sure that you are allocating enough money to ladies, kids, mens, and accessories. You also have to compare what you did last Spring (what worked, how much $$ you spent, what percentage of dresses did you get, etc.) and also think of your Resort buy to make sure everything flows! There are about 5,000 other things you have to think about and consider. It gets a tad overwhelming! But, we somehow make it though! :) Plus, it is Lilly Pulitzer, how can you not be happy and feed off that energy!?!?!

Talking to other stores with in similar areas (and similar size of store) really helps! After we get back home from market, we then show the line sheets to our employees for their feedback. I am currently tweaking the order now. Finally, we will get to see a mock up of the catalog (a month or two after). Then, we tweak our order yet again! It really is an art form! :)

I am so excited about Spring 2012!

Xoxo,
Semmes

PS Here are a couple other pictures of "The Pink Palace"

"The juice stand" where all of our fabulous meals and snacks are served :)

The entrance into Lilly paradise!

Crazy Lilly Online Sale!

2011-08-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

Lilly lovers,

Last year, Lilly had a HUGE end of summer blow out sale on their website. As many of y'all may know, their website crashed immediately, leaving Lilly lovers a tad frustrated. Well, this year, they are gearing up for another HUGE sale. I hope this time they will make sure the website can handle all that traffic. ;)

Majority of the signature stores with an e-commerce website will be participating as well! Despite already having our Julilly Sale, we will definitely participating. We are currently marking down our items (to match or perhaps a tad lower than Lilly's website prices). We are getting really excited! Just in case the Lilly website is too much to handle, always check out us Signature Stores!

You can order from our website (under past seasons at http://www.thepinkdoormemphis.com/), email us, or give us a ring. :) Mark in your calendar (perhaps your new, fabulous Lilly Pulitzer agenda), AUGUST 23rd through AUGUST 25th. Whoohoo!

xoxo,
Semmes

"The Help"

2011-08-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

I went with my one of my best friends last night to see The Help. This book has been on my two page list of books to read for almost two years. Afterall, I am a southern girl from Memphis (three hours north of Jackson) and love to read books that (1) take place in the South, (2) a fictional story intertwined with historical events, and (3) have a moving story line.

Usually, I read the book before I see the movie. But, I was just dying to see this movie ASAP! And, boy, am I glad that I did! It was wonderful, fantastic, moving, beautiful, etc... SO GOOD! I highly recommend. Well, I could go on and on about the movie itself, but that would be for a different blog. :)

First, in the movie, they mention Jackie Kennedy looking gorgeous on the cover of Life magazine in 1962. I was literally jumping in my seat! Jackie was actually wearing a Lilly dress on the cover, soon making Lilly Pulitzer a household name.

I LOVE movies that take place in the past... Afterall, I have always been told that I was born in the wrong decade (I have an old soul). The costumes were unbelievable!!! I LOVE the style in the late 1950s and early 1960s. So preppy :). I kept on thinking during the movie, that dress reminds me of a Lilly Pulitzer dress from this Spring! Although her character was less than pleasing, bless her soul, Hilly would look fabulous in the Eryn dress from this past Spring collection.

Pair that with some pearls, tights, and little white pumps (circa 1960) and give a good puff to your hair with LOTS of hairspray, then viola! you are transported back to the 1960's! Fabulous! I loved how all the past spring collection was very inspired by the late 50's, early 60's. As the Lilly designers said at market a year ago, their inspiration was "Mad Men" (which, that also has been on my list of TV shows I want to watch.... Thank goodness for Netflix)! I wish I could stock my closet with all vintage inspired clothing. Now, I just actually wish I would look good in this dress.... Sigh....

What are y'alls thoughts on The Help? I am starting the book tonight! Whoohoo!

xoxo,
Semmes

Back to School with Lilly Pulitzer Promotion!

2011-08-17T15:21:00.000-05:00

Lilly lovers,

We are having a back to school with Lilly Pulitzer promotion at The Pink Door from Aug 15th through Aug 29th

What better way to shift back into fall and the school year with Lilly Pulitzer AND a gift with purchase! Cheers!

xoxo,
Semmes

First Blog

2011-08-17T15:00:00.003-05:00

Hello!

This is my first time to blog, so it will take me some time to get use to :) My name is Semmes Humphreys, and I am the Store Manager of a Lilly Pulitzer Signature Store, The Pink Door, in Memphis, TN. My momma, Mimi Taylor, is the owner. We have been working together for almost 4 years! In fact, our 4 year anniversary for The Pink Door is coming up! So exciting... I cannot believe that it has been 4 years! It has been a very interesting, yet fun, and extremely hard working past 4 years.

When my mom bought The Pink Door from her two best friends from high school, the store was doing extremely well.... Well, little did we know that a little less than a year later, the world fell apart. As new store owners, we were still getting use to the whole "small business" world, then we had the economy fall apart! It was an every day struggle to make it as a small business, let alone a NEW small business! We had to pull in a lot and just try to stay afloat. We did a lot of new things too - like I built our e-commerce website! Through thick and thin, we made it! And, we have our extremely loyal customers to thank :). So, a special shout out to all of our FABULOUS, LOYAL, and overall FANTASTIC Lilly customers! It has been a crazy 4 years, and I am sure to reflect on it more when September 1st rolls around.

Right now, we have our first shipment of Fall in the store. It is SO CUTE and I will def have a lot more to say or "blog" about that... Until then, I am going to figure out how the heck does all of this blog business work... Any tips would be greatly appreciated :)

Until next time (aka when I get a handle on this new media platform)!

xoxo,
Semmes