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A Look Inside Retail Management at Lilly Pulitzer
Posted on May 14, 2012 in Lovin' Lilly, Store News by Lindsay
Our 2012 theme of “Lilly in Bloom” couldn’t be more fitting as we open retail stores across the country this year. In February, we were thrilled to open the doors to a retail store fit-for-a-queen, in Charlotte, NC. In a few short weeks, we will be opening another retail store in Atlanta, Georgia (we’re sure you’ll go nuts over this location!) and later this Summer, we’ll be opening the doors to our 19th retail store in Towson, MD!! (no more reason to feel crabby about not having a Lilly retail store near you in MD!)
As our retail stores bloom, our need for enthusiastic, experienced Lilly Lovers to staff our stores also grows. (Check our job openings here!) We decided to have a quick chat with recently promoted (because she’s AH-MAZING) District Manager, Courtney Bird, so she could give an insider’s view on what it’s like working in retail management at Lilly Pulitzer…
1. What is your favorite part about managing a Lilly Pulitzer retail store?
My favorite part of managing a Lilly Pulitzer retail store is that every day is different. Each day is like a fresh start and I always look forward to introducing a new customer to Lilly Pulitzer! And no matter what region you work in, the store staff is always in the resort mindset which is obviously a great way to start any day! When I was working in Chicago, I remember thinking how funny it was that outside was a snow storm and inside I’m selling beautiful Lilly printed shift dresses! You couldn’t ask for anything better – it’s like a mini–vacation every day!
2. In your experience, what makes the Lilly customer so unique?
Our girl is connected to the brand in so many ways- she remembers her first time wearing Lilly or giving Lilly as a gift and can’t wait to get a friend or family member hooked on the brand. Helping a customer enjoy her first experience with Lilly is always amazing. We love telling the Lilly story and seeing girls faces light up – it would make anyone’s day!!
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It’s never too soon to plan for planning! No seriously, Lilly girls loooove to plan- after all, how do you pull off fabulous brunches by day and legendary parties by night — all without breaking a sweat?! (yes, we realize there’s about a jillion other things you do tucked in the middle but be honest- those are the highlights!) So we all have a not-so-little secret – it’s our constant companion, trusted adviser and dare-we-compare-it-to-oxygen Lilly agenda! We/You/Everyone loves it so much that we needed more, more, more! We’re excited to introduce you to THREE *new* styles of the Lilly agenda!!
o The Soft Cover Agenda: This is the same in size and layout as the large agenda we’ve offered in the past but it will have a flexible, plastic cover for a lighter weight version of the version you loved before – for the girl on the go!
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The queen city has been treating us like royalty lately! Last weekend, Lilly Pulitzer was a sponsor (along with Wells Fargo and our friends at Belk) for the Mint Museum of Charlotte’s Annual Fundraiser Gala. Over 200 of Charlotte’s finest turned out for a colorful evening of cocktails, dinner, and dancing. (Hot Sauce was playing, we couldn’t NOT dance!) The entire venue was completely Lillified including a pink carpet, an army of mannequins dressed in vintage Lilly as well current product, original floral paintings by Lilly print designers, as well as vignette’s scattered throughout the different rooms.
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The older & WISER we get, the more we appreciate our mom and want to get her something extra-special to make sure she knows just how we feel. (and our handprint on a paper plate with “Mom” scribbled alongside just doesn’t cut it anymore) And the wiser we get, the better we know mom and *think* we know what she’ll like, but that certainly doesn’t make it EASY to shop for her. We know this 
so we categorized some Lilly goodies into different categories to help you shop for mom. (and enjoy free shipping & $2 gift wrapping now too!)
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There are sooooooo many reasons to love Summer and one of our favorites is Summer weddings. So many of our Lilly Lovers are coastal residents either year-round or during the Summer that a lot of them choose to celebrate one of the most important days of their lives, seaside. And for those of us who get to be in attendance at these nautical nuptials, we’re happy to raise a toast to the happy couple while we lavish in our beach-wedding-favorite sundresses and thank-goodness-they’re-appropriate-here McKims.
We decided to team up with our friends at Southern Weddings and pair the 2 things we’re loving right this minute – Summer weddings and duh, Pinterest! (follow Lilly here and follow Southern Weddings Magazine here) Sure, actually having or going to a Summer wedding beats the heck out of any online/inside activity but DREAMING about Summer weddings is absolutely a favorite hobby for both of us and doesn’t it last a lot longer than any weekend affair? You bet. So while each of us waits for our own big day or dreams about how we’d do it differently next time, we’re content to be inspired to create a Wedding Pinterest board of any girls dreams. And… we want YOU to do the same! Heck, we think most of you already are! So now you can tell your boyfriend it’s not abnormal to be creating a Lilly-inspired Summer Wedding board on Pinterest because after all, you’re just trying to win a new dress for this Summer’s wedding!
Here are the rules on how to enter the Lilly Pulitzer and Southern Weddings Pinterest contest and you can view our complete contest rules here.
3 winning boards will be chosen by the Lilly Pulitzer & Southern Wedding teams and entries must be received by Friday, May 25th at 3:00pm ET. Winners will be notified and announced by June 1, 2012. Happy Pinning!
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Last night we had an amazing time as we hosted some very stylish and sweet fashion writers from NYC at our Madison Avenue Store. Admittedly we were a bit giddy about meeting these women as we’ve been following their blogs for quite a while, but we were especially excited to share the Lilly story with them and hear their feedback about our Summer line.
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Summer, Summer, Summer… of course it’s our FAVORITE season! (please don’t tell Fall, Resort or Spring) When else do you get to wear your Lilly shorts by day and your Lilly dresses by night?! As we continue our Lilly in Bloom year, we kick off Summer with a “Summer By The Sea” theme. You’ll find prints inspired by everything from the sweet peas that grow by the ocean, to Magical Underwater Gardens (we secretly all aspire to be Ariel, don’t we?!) Our Summer collection is blooming with sunshine, style and an extra does of happy so we can all celebrate the longest days of the year in Lilly!
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Sun, sand and LILLY PULITZER. It just rolls off the tongue…which is why our Summer catalog shoot took us beach side. (you know what they say…when duty calls!) As soon as we got one glimpse of the Summer collection against the blue sky, we could not WAIT to share it with you! Now that it’s finally here, we are thrilled!
Along with the beach side pictures, you will notice a few festive back drops. From the nautical navy stripe, to the wall of beautiful shells…oh this season is just too much fun. Our models were absolutely gorgeous as they showcased the season’s hottest shades. And speaking of shades, we are looooving the glow of neon featured on our front cover!! Yes, brighter is better. (but our Lilly girl already knows that!)
So, grab your beach chair or at least your shades (May is almost upon us) and soak in what we hope will be one of your favorite beach reads! And don’t forget to check out our behind the scenes video for a sneak peek at the Lilly Pulitzer crew on set. HAPPY SUMMER! xx
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resses! "Pin It")
Felicity / Rosemary / Delia / Marlisa
It’s definitely the time of year for some Vitamin D. And no need to rely on Mother Nature to bring the sunshine, these dresses bring the rays all on their own! Shine in Lilly this season!
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This time last week, 20 of us were rolling into work after a really tough fun weekend in South Carolina for the 80th Anniversary of the Carolina Cup! The Lilly team flew in to Columbia, SC on Friday, meeting up at Pink Sorbet, one of the event sponsors, for a Carolina Cup shopping event. There were lots of last-minute shoppers looking for the perfect cup dress, matching bow ties for their beaus and a big ol’ hat to top off their look. They munched on adorable (and yummy!) cookies, had some lemonade, got some kisses from the store mascot and most were smart enough to pick up a Lilly-printed umbrella for the forecasted showers that awaited us. The Lilly team headed to dinner, gorged on pizza, and took guesses on which dress would “win” the Carolina Cup. A few of us grabbed some dessert at the YogHut on campus and headed back to our hotels for some last-minute preparations.
The Lilly team met at 6:30am in the lobby of our hotel & sleepily headed to Starbucks to get our day started. Needless to say, our Lilly-clad, 20 deep group got some looks (because let’s admit it- we looked super cute!!) but we grabbed out lattes, put on our boots and hopped in our cars to start the 45 minute caravan to Camden, SC for the day’s festivities! We pulled into the gates and descended on our tent to start the set up. The chilly, wet weather couldn’t dampen the fun as we blew up balloons, set out boxes (and boxes and boxes) of animal crackers and koozies and set up shop for our soon-to-be mobbed tent. The sprinkles didn’t keep people away for long – very soon after the gates opened, college girls (and their beaus) hailing from USC, Clemson, UNC, Duke, Furman, App State, and Davidson (just to name a few), made a bee-line to our tent, determined not to miss the Lilly freebies, a chance to talk to our designers, getting their pictures taken by our VERY excited team and watching (and entering to win!) a Lilly printed canvas come to life- painted by our Print Designer, Ashley. What they didn’t know, was we were making a video to capture the fun and Lilly-ness that IS the Carolina Cup. Check out this quick video that captures the spirit & energy of our girls at this festive event!
We had an absolute BLAST!! We were blown away by all the Lilly love and will practice our cooler dancing for 2013! Thanks for being great hosts, welcoming us with open arms and we promise to see you next year!
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