Blooming Clothing .193

Case 11.3 Blooming Clothing
A bumpy path to exports
It was nine o'clock on a misty Irish morning in February 1995. Martha O'Byrne cycled down the narrow avenue to the clothing factory of which she was managing director and the main shareholder. Wheeling her bicycle into her small office, she wondered if Janet Evans had called yet. Janet, the chief buyer with the Mothercare chain of stores in the UK, had promised to phone her that morning, to let her know if she would be placing a further order with her company. Listening to the messages on her answering machine, Martha remembered the path that she had taken to establish her own enterprise. Blooming Clothing, the small company that Martha O'Byme owns and manages, is situated in the Liberties, an aid and historic part of Dublin, Ireland. Established in 1985, the firm employs 80 people manufacturing maternity wear for the Irish and export markets. Martha O'Byrne had come to this business by an unusual route. Having established herself as a successful merchant banker, she had been considering setting up her own business for same time. 'Women, I think, can have a mid-life crisis at the menopause, but I got mine when I was 28', she recalls. In 1984, a shopping trip with her pregnant sister-in-law revealed that the maternity wear available on the Irish market was dowdy and depressing. In that moment, the idea for Blooming Clothing was conceived. Martha resigned from her position in the investment bank in 1985, and set up in business with two partners as a retailer of maternity wear. Her shop, called 'Blooming', was located on South Leinster Street, on the fringes of Dublin's most prestigious shopping district. It quickly won recognition and sales for its more modern clothes, which proved particularly popular with working women. 'There was a need for a new, more vibrant look', comments Martha, 'while still retaining the femininity and mystique of the pregnant woman.' The emphasis of the 'Blooming' label is on softly tailored separates -jackets, trousers, skirts and dresses -for office wear and special occasiOl:\s (see Figure 1, plate 8). Having experienced problems with outsourcing garments, Martha and her team started to manufacture their own lines in 1986. By 1987, Blooming Clothing had a turnover of IRf250,OOO. The company built up further sales in Ireland through concession outlets in department stores and through a range of independent outlets. The break into exporting also came in 1987. Martha O'Byrne, herself six months pregnant at the time, made a presentation to a buyer from Harrods, the well-known department stare in London. The stare agreed to carry the Blooming label in its maternity wear section, and has been a good customer since. Arising out of this success, Blooming appointed an agent, Favoro & Co., to build up further business in the UK. By 1992, the firm had a turnover of IRf 1.1 m and had moved manufacturing to the current premises at Carman's Hall, Francis Street. It had established a good sales base in Ireland and was selling in the UK to such prestigious retailers as Harrods, John Lewis and Selfridges. The firm depended heavily on a personal approach to secure orders. It did not have a full-time salesperson as such or attend trade fairs. Would-be buyers would receive a presentation on the ~Iooming range from Martha O'Byrne herself or from Barbara Connolly, the firm's part owner and chief designer.

194 .Deciding which markets to enter However, 1992 saw the UK economy go into deep recession, and clothing was one of the first industries to feel the pain. As if this was not enough, 1992/3 also saw the development of a major currency crisis for the Irish pound vis-a-vis the pound sterling. The Irish pound, which had been trading at a rate of 96-8 pence to the pound sterjing, rapidly appreciated in value, eventually trading at IRf1.10 = f1 sterling. Irish exporters, for whom the UK is the single most important market, found their prices increased and their customers falling away. Blooming Clothing was not alone in experiencing these trends, and along with other companies received financial assistance from a state-funded scheme designed to help exporters through this crisis. In the meantime, cash flow was squeezed and the aftermath was felt for two years. The management of Blooming spent 1993 trying to generate orders to make up for the business it had lost. Martha O'Byrne remained optimistic. 'There may be peaks and troughs in a business, but there are always opportunities in any market if you look', she remarked. In 1994, Blooming appointed an agent in Belgium. The agreement was signed just in time for the onset of a recession, and sales did not materialize. A foray into the Swedish market proved disappointing. The agent selected by the firm did not generate worthwhile orders and the relationship gradually faded away. 1995 marked a new departure. The firm began to build up increased sales through the appointment of new retail outlets. Then the British chain stare Mothercare, part of the Storehouse group, agreed to stock a range of Blooming lines. Mothercare stores offer a range of nursery goods, children's clothes and associated items, through a network of over 330 outlets in the UK and international franchise operations in 25 countries with nearly 130 outlets. The order, worth f1 00,000 initially, would give both parties a chance to evaluate the success of the label and the fit with Mothercare's existing range of maternity wear. If the Blooming range was a success, a partnership with Mothercare would allow Blooming the opportunity to penetrate the European market, with access to a broad range of outlets. Martha O'Byrne gazed out the window of her office, taking in the view of St Patrick's Cathedral, a famous locallandmark. As she waited in anticipation for a telephone call, she wondered what the future held for Blooming, and more particularly for the company's export sales.

Questions
1. 2. 3. 4. What criteria do you think Blooming Clothing has used in selecting export markets? Analyze and evaluate the modes of export market entry used by Blooming. Draft an outline sales presentation, to be used by Martha O'Byrne at her next meeting with a UK chain stare buyer who is interested in stocking a new range of maternity wear. The telephone rings. Janet Evans is on the line. What do you think is the outcome of the call?
Prepared by Edel Foley and Eibhlin Curley, College of Marketing and Design, Dublin Institute of Technology,

Ireland. Information from company interviews and C. Flynn, 'A 40-something crisis', lrish lndependent,
5 October 1995