“I believe that people will start consuming less but looking for an added bonus.” - VERONIKA DRASDOVA, MoiQut Store.
Drasdova is de founder of the store MoiQut, a small shop in the center of Bilbao that sells ethically produced garments.
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We talked to Veronika Drasdova, the owner of the MoiQut Store, to know how has the pandemic affected the small businesses and how do they manage to recover competing against multinational companies.
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- How do you manage to compete against the big fast-fashion brands that sell you t-shirts for 5 euros?
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- Our target customer is not the type of customer who buys from amazon, primark, or even Zara. Our ideal client seeks to wear garments that tell a story, they want a piece of clothing that gives you an experience. I don’t compete against Gran Vía shops nor Amazon, they’re not on my league. What we managed to do, in order to attract people during the lockdown, was launch bonuses, so if you spend 40€ in our store, we will give you 50€ to spend in the future. And people would buy something already knowing that they will find clothes they like in the future too. We do not sell online because of the impact of packaging and transport. But we also promote ourselves doing cultural events in our store.
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- ¿Have you ever tried working with influencers to make your brand grow?
- The thing about influencers is that there are girls who are not interested in our brand, and even if they have a large number of followers, they are probably not the type of costumers we work for. Besides that, if someone is not happy with the garments, nor will they wear them regularly, I prefer not to give them away or sell them. I want people who buy our clothes to feel that they are carrying something valuable.
- Do you think that after the pandemic people will be able to empathise with a more reduced and responsible consumption? And how do you thing that will affect small businesses?
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- I believe that consumption will not decrease. Maybe people will buy 3 items instead of 5, but they will always come back here knowing that they will find something new. We do not restock sizes; we always bring new things. Our project was to make our own clothes, but for now it is difficult. We are going to continue with the brands that work for us and that people like. I don’t think that local businesses are going to die. I believe that people will start consuming less but looking for an added value.
- You were saying that MOIQUT sells organic clothing, what makes it organic?:
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Our clothes are from different brands. 40% of the products in your store are organic and recycled, and they are all produced locally in Europe. At the beginning, when we opened the store, we thought of a special concept, focused on a customer looking for quality clothing that will lasts them and that is eco-friendly. Mainly because that is the trend. The idea of ​​an organic product not involved with mass production that has less impacts on the enviroment is what attracts a lot of out clients. We even offer 5% discount to customers if they commit to recycle garments from their closets.
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- What was the most difficult obstacle along the way? In terms of evolution.
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Well, I have been working in all sectors of the textile commerce for many years. I believe that clients are beginning to prefer local businesses over mass production companies. We are in the centre of the city, and our clients consists mainly of people who are from the neighborhood. So we are not making great revenues on sales. But I already knew this would happen, so nothing has been unexpected. And we have a wonderful customer base.
Outside MOIQUT store. MOIQUTs instagram
MOIQUT's clothes.
Jan 3, 2021 | MENEZES Kisbel
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