Business View - July 2015 85
en’s fashion was that there was a gap that he believed
franchising could fill.
According to Petersen, the women’s retail fashion in-
dustry had, at the time, two components: there were
the mom and pop stores, all independently owned,
staffed, and stocked by courageous entrepreneurs
who were basically on their own. These small shops
had the benefit of being nimble enough to respond to
customer demands, but they didn’t have any leverage.
Then there were the national chains. These stores
were all corporately owned, so they benefitted from
economies of scale, but they were all the same in ev-
ery location across the map.
“So there was really nobody in the middle,” Petersen
continued, “and there wasn’t a single franchise out
there supporting independent operators. So we filled
the middle – that huge void in the industry that didn’t
exist before Apricot Lane. We brought that infrastruc-
ture that the nationals really enjoy in the areas of buy-
ing and inventory management, fashion trends, mar-
keting, real estate, lease negotiations, operations, and
networking, and created an opportunity for mom and
pop boutiques all over the country to act like and com-
pete with the national retailers.”
Now that Apricot Lane had its business model in place,
it still had to find its own individual style as well as de-
fine its priorities for its potential franchisees. Petersen
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Apricot Lane Boutiques
WHAT:
The nation’s leading women’s fashion
boutique franchise company
WHERE:
Headquarters in Vacaville, CA. with 80
franchises across the country
WEBSITE
:
FRANCHISE
