Special Orders: When You Have to Wait for Your Bra
You’ve found it: the bra you’ve been looking for! Except we’re sold out of your size. Or we’ve got your size, but in black when you need white. Don’t worry! You can still get what you want. All it takes is a special order.
What’s a special order?
There are two kinds of special orders at Broad. The first kind happens when we regularly stock the item you need, but we’re momentarily sold out. The second kind happens when we don’t regularly carry the item you need, but we’re able to order one in just for you. In both cases we’re ordering a bra especially for you, as opposed to an order to fill a gap in store stock. When the bra arrives we literally set it aside with your name on it!
Sold out?
We regularly carry Fantasie’s Rebecca in black and beige. If we’re sold out in your size, it’s just a special order away.
I know it can be frustrating to go shopping and be told that you’ll have to wait a week or more for an order to arrive. But Broad’s still a baby (turning 1 this month!) and we’ve got the budget to match. This means we can’t stock every style and colour in every size, all at once. Instead, we have to focus our buying on the things that are most likely to sell. We have to sell bras to buy bras, after all! At the end of each month, Sam checks our sales to see which sizes and styles did best. Over nearly a year of gathering this kind of information, we’re getting an idea of what tends to be popular with our customers.
So far, these stats are telling us that lots of people are looking for basic colours like black or beige. And while matching bottoms are a must-have for some people, it’s not what most of our customers have been interested in. When it comes to sizes, our best-sellers tend to be clustered around 34G. We’re not going to stop ordering colours, or skip matching sets entirely, and we’re definitely not narrowing our size range! But we’re also not going to carry bright orange sets in sizes 30-36E, because they’re just not as likely to find a forever home.
Something new!
We don’t carry Ewa Michalak’s Amorek, but Sam was able to special order one for a customer this Valentine’s Day.
One of the advantages of shopping with a small boutique like Broad is that you get more individual attention. You get to really build a relationship with your fitter! And when your fitter’s also the store owner, she can dig a little deeper to get you what you need.
I always say that Sam has a Rolodex of bras in her head. She’s worked in lingerie for so long, and is such a bra nerd, that she’s basically a walking database of bras to fit various needs and preferences. So if we don’t stock quite what you’re looking for, sometimes Sam can order something in for you. This is dependent on our access; if the bra you need is from a supplier we already work with, there’s a good chance we can bring one in just for you. And if we don’t have a relationship with the supplier, we’ll direct you to a shop that does!
Why do we use special orders?
For now, special orders are a way for us to get you the lingerie you want and need, without carrying too much stock…or financial risk. This is what lets Broad stay open! As the business grows, we’ll be able to carry more sizes and styles, and in greater quantities. We’ll never be all things to all people, but we do our best. And that will only get better!
P.S. We want to know what you’re looking for, even – especially – if we don’t have it. Your feedback is a big part of our decision-making. Keep an eye out for our upcoming end-of-year survey!
