Q&A with Jennifer Pilles, President
Ted Vayos, BODY: Describe your retail business.
Jennifer Pilles: Hey Beautiful! Intimates based out of Phoenix, Arizona was launched by Jennifer Pilles in 2012. Jennifer has been working in the retail industry for over 22 years. Jennifer believes everyone should have the opportunity to find lingerie styles that make them feel beautiful. We carry a wide range of intimate apparel: bras, panties, sleep wear, sports bras, shape wear, specialty items, lingerie, jeweled bra straps, eyelashes and so much more. Constantly expanding our product line, we are the boutique customers come to for all their intimate apparel, from beautiful every day wear to the sexy lingerie.
Primarily an online boutique, we also host fun shopping events several times a year at various venues such as Country Clubs, Resorts, bachelorette parties and other private parties. One of our favorites was hosting a “Get Your Sexy Back” Valentine’s Day Event. The event was held at a local country club and ladies and their significant others were invited out to have a few glasses of wine while they shopped our entire line of lingerie. We provided fitting rooms so they could try before they purchased, and throughout the night we had our lovely “Hey Beautiful! Intimates” models showcasing different items.
We are currently expanding to a boutique that will be set up for private fittings and events for our customers – customized to their requests. We provide sizes from Small up to 4X for our Curvy Girls, also bras from the smaller cup sizes to the larger, hard to find cup sizes.
Ted: What makes your retail business special?
Jennifer: We provide beautiful, quality intimate apparel & lingerie at affordable prices for ladies, no matter their size. We love working one-on-one with our customers to help them find something that makes them feel really good about themselves. Ladies love beautiful bras, panties, lingerie and corsets but usually are only able to purchase very limited amounts due to the high cost at many stores. Also, they often find that the selection and sizes are limited to only the most common sizes and don’t fit the curvy or petite girls. It is a very rewarding feeling to see the ladies find not only items they love but items where they can afford to have matching bras & panties; as well as be able to purchase several other things for themselves.
Ted: What do you look for in a brand?
Jennifer: We are constantly looking for new product lines. We want to provide styles that are beautiful, that fit the body to enhance the ladies body style. We do not sell packaged/box lingerie. We look for quality: the feel of the fabric, the comfort, how the product will fit and enhance the customers who wear the style. We look for styles that the customers will be excited to purchase for many reasons: they are beautiful, fit amazing, are sexy, or are a unique product find. One example is the NuBra. Our customers love this product! This product has extended our customer’s wardrobe and eliminates issues with bra straps. Especially here in Arizona where everyone wears many styles of tops and dresses that you cannot hide bra straps under. Strapless bras more often than not, are just frustrating to wear; the NuBra is a great solution for that!
Also popular are the Knock Out Panties and Mighty Nighties. The ladies love the way these styles wick and absorb sweat. We have gorgeous corsets from Coquette that everyone loves! We have brought in Lola Haze which is a beautiful and unique line. Another popular item we are offering are the jeweled bra straps from Oh La La Bra – these will enhance the look of an outfit! Our eyelashes from Baci are in huge demand. We found that many of the cheer leading squads purchase them for their competitions.
A product line we have been searching for is soft cotton panties and sleep wear. We are also looking to expand and offer active wear for our customers. We enjoy working with designers and businesses that provide wonderful customer service and knowledge of their product lines.
Ted: What are the latest trends?
Jennifer: Corsets are very popular with our customers. They love the versatility of many of our corsets; they can wear them in the bedroom or pair the corset up with a great pair of jeans and heels for a night out on the town. The Nubra is a best seller. Also, Panties – we offer 4 for $15.00 – in many different styles and colors – thongs, bikinis, boyshorts – the customer’s love the selection and pricing. You can never have enough panties!
Bras that offer support and beautiful simple style that show no lines under clothing are always in demand. We have many beautiful Chemise that our customers really enjoy. Sexy black robe sets and long form fitting gowns, with slits up the leg offer an elegance that customers love.
Ted: Describe your price points and size ranges.
Jennifer: Our main price point is Bridge. With proper research and pickiness (lol!) we can find beautiful styles at wonderful pricing for our customers. We offer lingerie in sizes from Small to 4X; the customers love that our lingerie is not only available to the petite! Bras we offer range in cup sizes from AA to F, in band widths from 32 to 38. We are expanding our line to include an even broader range of sizes.
Ted: What is your typical or
average customer size?
Jennifer: Our average customer size is Medium to Large. We do have many plus size or Curvy Size ladies as well.
Ted: What does the average customer spend per visit to your store?
Jennifer: The average customer spends approximately $50 to $100
Ted: Describe your customer.
Jennifer: Our customer base is mainly females from the age 19 to 50. We love helping all ages find what they need. We do have men that shop with the ladies and it is always interesting watching couples pick out something that they both like. Also, we sell some great looking men’s boxer briefs so many ladies enjoy buying their man a little something also.