Women's wear retailer adds to Pullman Square's momentum
7/24/2007
By JEAN TARBETT HARDIMAN
The Herald-Dispatch
jeant@herald-dispatch.com
HUNTINGTON -- It was by chance that Deneene Chafin got a really great job working for Jessica McClintock several years ago.
She was merchandising for 1928 Jewelry and was at a Stone & Thomas in Charleston when a friend mentioned that Jessica McClintock's company was interviewing for a new account executive.
The friend had to quickly explain who McClintock was -- a woman with a successful line of fashions, fragrance, accessories, the works -- before Chafin went into the interview. But it was enough information to get her the job, and for the next 16 years, Chafin worked directly with McClintock. She was an account executive for the entire East Coast and spent her days sweeping through stores such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks 5th Avenue -- the list goes on -- selling top-of-the-line products.
She learned from the best, and in the best places. And a few years ago, Chafin decided to launch a second career that had nothing to do with luck. She decided to take the knowledge from the past 16 years and start her own business in her home state.
And she would name it Inspired, in honor of her father, Vinson Smith, who had just passed away and with whom she was very close. He owned Smith Electric and inspired her to start her own business, Chafin said.
What started as a kiosk selling handbags in the Charleston mall has turned into four stores in the Huntington-Charleston area selling not only handbags, but also clothing, bridal gowns, shoes and other accessories.
Three of those stores -- Inspired, Runway Couture and Heels -- are at Pullman Square, making her the lone women's retailer at the Huntington hot spot.
"When you lose a parent, or when something happens to you like that, you're not scared of anything," said Chafin, a
43-year-old wife to Richard Chafin and mother of 21-year-old twins, Sarah and Barry.
"I would be scared not to do this," she said. "After something traumatic happens in your life, everything else is minor. You might as well take chances."
So she did. She started selling fashion lines that no one else was taking a chance on in West Virginia.
Spending so many years visiting top stores in cities such as New York and Washington, D.C., made Chafin ask, "Why do these places have this great stuff, but we don't in West Virginia?"
She learned that designers didn't want to risk some of their trendiest lines in the state because they thought West Virginia women had a different mentality and wouldn't wear it.
She disagreed. And she started proving it with handbags.
She opened Inspired, first at the Charleston mall and then at Pullman Square.
"I love handbags," Chafin said. "I always thought, 'The outfit doesn't matter, but you better have a nice handbag.' "
She also was advised that it's good to sell something that people can't do without, and for most women, that's true of handbags, she said.
"Then we started bringing things that other stores didn't have, and selling them for a good price, and we grew from there," Chafin said.
Inspired sells handbags; Runway Couture sells fashions and accessories, and Heels is all shoes. Some of the brand names found in the stores that are rare locally are Ed Hardy, Miss Me, Sugar Lips, Stop Staring, Ravianna and many more.
Her daughter, Sarah Chafin, who's studying fashion at Marshall University, helps her run the store and likely will run it on her own someday. They go on trips together to select the merchandise, and Sarah Chafin can be found working in the store nearly as often as Deneene, who's there every day.
"It's a blast," Sarah Chafin said of working with her mom. "She knows what she's talking about. She knows the business -- she's been in it forever."
When they're on trips together, they each let their own fashion sense temper the other's.
"There are some things she'll pick and I'll say no, and she'll do that with some things I pick," Sarah Chafin said. "She'll say, 'Are you serious?' and I'll say, 'Mom, do not order that.' But it all works."
Chafin loves her location at Pullman Square. The rent might scare other retailers away, but she says you get what you pay for -- lots and lots of customers.
Bill Dargusch of Metropolitan Partners, which leases the space to tenants in Pullman Square, said he's thrilled about Chafin's success, not only because the stores are doing well, but also because she's a great person.
"She's a breath of fresh air," he said. "It's great to have local talent that's done three concepts, and all are equally as good."
And there's probably a big future ahead, said her sister in-law, Debbie Smith, who works in the stores.
"I feel she's even going to go higher," Smith said. "She's a go-getter, no matter what happens. She works seven days a week, nonstop. The drive that's in her comes from her dad. He inspires her to do the things that she's doing."
