Dressup

affordable.I want to get newstuff every singleweek, so that it’s always changing and so that people have a reason to keep coming back.’” After Danielle’s considered exhortation,things moved veryquickly.“That sounded like a great idea tome,”Derrick recounts.“That was on a Saturday. That Monday,I went to a friend of mine about some real estate.He said hemayhave something by the end of theweek–a small space in a basement in Dahlonega.The verynext Saturday,wewent to an apparel showinAtlanta and found some clothes that we liked.OnMonday,we signed a lease for a year and opened up four weeks later.So,in fiveweeks,we went from the idea to the first store being open.” DressUpwas an instant success.“We did it with our ownmoney,”Derrickadds.“We didn’t take out any loans.After about a year-we both had kept our full- time jobs-I was working in sales for a Fortune 500 company-I finallygot to the point where I was tired of working two full-time jobs–running our companyand doing the sales job,so I quit my sales career.I tooka drasticpaycut–I was one of the top sales reps in the DRESSUP state,at the time and I was only23 years old.” Evidently,Derrickmade the right decision.DressUp’s successful,initial launchwas followed by the opening of a second store a couple of months later.“And it kept growing from there,” he says.“Nowwe’re eight years old and have stores in four states,with a huge online presence.”Today, DressUp’s Georgia locations include: Alpharetta,Athens,Brookhaven, Cumming,Dahlonega,Gainesville, Marietta,Peachtree Corners,Perime- ter Place,Savannah,Snellville,Sun- Trust Park,Suwanee,andWoodstock; inAlabama: Auburn andHuntsville; in South Carolina: Charleston and Greenville; and inTennessee: Brent- wood andNashville.From its head- quarters in Gainesville,the com- panyemploys 300 people. Howdid a scrappy little start-upmanage to find a successful niche in the verycompetitiveworld of women’s clothes? “Nobodydoes what we do at the level we do,”Derrick explains.“We get in 60 or 70 styles every single