Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Jacot.
Rachel, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in the midwest. Went to fashion design school in Chicago and when I graduated moved out west. I landed in LA for almost 10 years working for various high end boutiques and realized I wanted to go out on my own and open my own shop so my husband and I moved to Oregon where we launched our shop. It stared out in a 300 foot space in a hallway. We sold only gift and home goods but quickly realized we needed to expand. We moved the shop to a larger space and started selling sustainable and ethical clothing designers from around the world. We wanted to find designers that we could get behind morally and bring new styles to the Pacific North West. We currently have designers from Japan, Paris, Italy, Brazil, USA, India, more. We have been in Lake Oswego going on almost 7 years.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We launched about a year and a half before Covid so it was a rough road for sure. When Covid hit we had only started paying ourselves slightly and still didn’t have a website. We were in a mainly tourist area in downtown Portland surrounded by hotels. We knew if we didn’t move the shop we wouldn’t survive it so we moved to downtown Lake Oswego in 2020. It was more than challenging to say the least. We were new to the area, no one was buying clothing or even really out and we were still pretty new at this anyways. So we just kept pivoting and digging in. My poor husband worked 2 full time jobs to try to support us at home and also helped out at the shop when he could.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have a degree in Fashion Design from the Illinois institute of Art – Chicago. I grew up in a small rural town in Illinois and new I wanted to end up in a big city and focus on fashion. I worked managing stores in Scottsdale Arizona and then Los Angeles. I worked as a district manager for Margaret O’leary running her LA store for about 5 years before we made the move to Oregon to open our own shop.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
We want the readers to know that we are just a normal couple running a small family business. No backers, No funding. Just us and a dream. My husband, Shane and I have worked service our entire lives and don’t come from money. We run the shop and do our best with what we have. We hope to find enough success to open a few shops down the line but these times have been so hard on small businesses. We just hope to stick around for years to come.
Pricing:
- – Gift – $8-$200
- – Clothing $68-$450 (average)
- – Shoes $200-$525
- – Vintage Home – $10-$150
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shop-biography.com,
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shop_biography/
