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Main Street Warsaw’s first Fashion Weekend kicked off Friday.
The three participating fashion boutiques in Fashion Weekend are Glam Boutique, Finley & Co and Male Fashions.
Michelle Smith Hansen, owner of Glam Boutique, said Warsaw is really unique in being a small town and having as many stores downtown as it does, so Fashion Weekend is a great way to highlight that and have stores collaborate with each other. Fashion Weekend is also a great way to get people to shop at the stores downtown.
Hansen said Fashion Weekend gives the community something fun to do and support small businesses.
Tim Hamann, owner of Male Fashions, said he wanted to get involved with Fashion Weekend because, besides having a clothing store, he loves to participate where there’s a collaborative effort involved because “if we’re helping one store, we’re kind of helping each other and I love doing stuff like that.”
Angela Waddle, manager at Finley & Co., said Finley likes to be part of the community and give back to community events. Finley & Co. moved downtown about a year ago to be “closer to everybody and help the downtown grow.” She said she hoped store staff and the community were able to meet new people and see new styles.
Fashion Weekend started Friday with Downtown Sip N Shop, where retail shops offered complimentary wine and cheese and boutique shops. Some of the stores featured live mannequins while art vendors and street musicians lined downtown streets.
Waddle said Finley & Co. loves the Sip N Shop events because the events bring in the store’s regulars and new people and store staff love having new people and regulars come in to the store.
Today, there will be a runway show at The Vic. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the show starting at 8:30 p.m.
Hansen said all three boutiques will have models walk the runway in current fashions sold at their store.
Hamann said the fashion show is a fun event. People can go to the show, relax and watch people get crazy and show off some clothes and have fun.
On Sunday, there will be a private champagne for those who purchased tickets. The public is invited to an open champagne shop at Glam Boutique, Finley and Co. and Male Fashion from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Sunday and can take advantage of special in-store discounts.
Waddle said some of the benefits of Fashion Weekend are to make shopping convenient by keeping everything together and meeting new clients. She hopes Fashion Weekend will help the store grow.
Hamann hopes Male Fashions gets more exposure out of the weekend and people realize what the store has to offer. Events like Fashion Weekend are geared toward retail stores like Male Fashions.
“But it’s getting people out in the community, bringing them downtown so they know, hey, there’s stuff to can do downtown; they don’t have to go somewhere else,” he said.
Hamann said about halfway through Friday’s event, the turnout was good. People were able to go in to his store and buy some things and ask questions and Male Fashions was able take care of customers.
Friday, Hansen said people were excited during Downtown Sip N Shop. She said she hopes Fashion Weekend becomes an annual event.
