THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509270167
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Business
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Barbette, a woman's clothing store celebrating its 35th birthday this month, is still in the family of one of the founders.
Vicky Ferrell, 49, owns the shop. She's the daughter of Betty Wine, who started the shop in 1960 with Barbara Resnick. Their names combined made the name of the shop.
By today's measure, Barbette is unusual. It's a one-store business that still offers personal service, now to a third generation of customers.
``We'll special order if we can get it,'' Ferrell said. ``And if working women can't get here during our regular hours, we'll stay for them if they'll call.''
The shop has the friendly ambience of another era when shopkeepers knew all their customers and knew what they were apt to buy.
``We try not to be pushy because we want the customers to have a pleasant experience here,'' Ferrell said. ``We have fun and we want it to be fun for others.''
The atmosphere is not too different from the days when Wine and Resnick started the shop next to Suburban Pharmacy at the corner of Rodman Avenue and King Street in the middle of town. Crowded as the small space became, it thrived there until 1989 when the store moved to the Churchland Shopping Center.
``We simply needed more room,'' Ferrell said. ``We didn't even have a back room there. The layawayswere in boxes up above the racks of clothes.''
Some people thought the business had closed when, in fact, it had expanded into more space.
Ferrell said she took over the business when her mother's health failed but she hasn't stopped working as a nurse.
``I wanted to do both,'' she said. ``The store is a family thing and I like my job at the hospital.''
Ferrell is married to Carroll Ferrell, a Portsmouth lawyer, and teaches nursing education at Portsmouth General Hospital.
``I had worked with my mother over the years, so I know the business,'' she said.
Working in the hospital and in the business are not as different as they may seem, she said, adding that customer service is important at both places.
Ferrell said she is in and out of the shop, leaving the day-to-day managing to Virginia Cuthriell. Four other women work there.
``I work a lot after hours,'' Ferrell said.
That's because the store does a lot to keep its customers coming in.
They call them and they mail fliers to regulars. They keep a birthday list and send greeting cards with a 25 percent birthday discount ticket enclosed.
They offer a ``preferred customer discount card.''
This month to celebrate their 35th anniversary they have been offering a variety of discount options, including a special one for senior citizens.
Forty percent or more of Barbette's customers, many of them longtime regulars, are now retired, Cuthriell said.
The birthday specials came at the right time, Ferrell said.
``The past two months have been the slowest we've ever had,'' she said. ``But everybody says it's not just our problem. It's everybody's.''
Ferrell believes there is a place in Portsmouth for shops like Barbette. She cited the continuing operation not only of her store but also of Mademoiselle's House of Fashion on Tyre Neck Road in Churchland and The Smart Shop on Portsmouth Boulevard.
``I think we all try to give people quality for their money and clothes that are fashionable but don't go out of style,'' she said.
Barbette staff likes to do fashion shows for organizations, she said, and tries to do shows outside the city as well as the local ones.
``We want people in other places to know about Portsmouth stores,'' she said. ``Especially with the new tunnel and interstate making it easy for them to get here.''
But, Ferrell added, her primary focus will continue to be service to Portsmouth women.
``We're going to do a focus group of local women, including some who never have been in the store,'' she said. ``We want to know what would bring Portsmouth women in.'' MEMO: Barbette is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday; until 8 p.m.
Thursday.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Virginia Cuthriell, left, manager; Vicky Ferrell, whose mother
started the shop; Jean Beale and Jean Godwin offer personal service
to customers.
by CNB