Business Snapshot: For special-occasion clothing, Black Tie Affair caters to kids

When it comes to finding adult formal attire to wear in a wedding or other special occasions, there are plenty of options. But try finding the proper attire for children.

That led to a business idea for Katherine Zimmer. She had tried finding clothing for formal occasions for her sons when they were children, and found the shopping frustrating.

“I had one son who liked to dress up and I couldn’t find anything,” she said.

Out of her own experience, Zimmer created Black Tie Affair. The retail store in Overland Park carries special-occasion clothing for children — for christenings, communions, bar and bat mitzvahs, quinceanera ceremonies, pageants and school dances for both boys and girls. Black Tie also carries shoes and accessories.

Q: What makes Black Tie unique?

“There is no other store around that sells the items that I do,” Zimmer said. “While most of the formal wear stores focus on men and women, I go to from the infant up to the 12-year-old and they can all be in the same style dress.”

Zimmer said shoppers could go online to find special-occasion clothing for children but didn’t know if an item would fit right or be the quality they wanted until it arrived. At her store, customers have the advantage of actually seeing an item and trying it on for size.

Black Tie carries a range of suits for boys.

“It is hard to find suits for boys,” Zimmer said. “I carry 18 different colors for them.”

Black Tie goes up to a size 15 for boys and carries husky sizes, as well.

Q: What was your previous business experience?

Zimmer served in the U.S. Marine Corps for two years, where she met and married her husband, Don Zimmer II.

The couple put each other through college and then traveled all over the world with work. Katherine Zimmer had past retail experience but decided to devote “110 percent to being a mother but working some odds and ends,” she said.

In 2009, when the family came to the Kansas City area, Zimmer began to think about what she would like to do outside the home. In 2011, Zimmer and her husband saw an opportunity to open a children’s clothing store.

Initially called Lads and Lassies Children’s Boutique, the store was located in a shopping center near West 199th Street. However, Zimmer closed the store after five months.

“It was the worst experience of my life,” said Zimmer of negotiating her lease. “When they say starting a business is hard they are right.”

She continued to operate the business as an online store until last year. Wanting to get rid of her inventory, Zimmer moved into a space in the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe.

“It went very well,” Zimmer said. “I was able to pay the bills.”

Zimmer used the move to the Great Mall as an opportunity to adjust the store’s inventory.

“I really changed my image — I was trying to revamp and be more toward special occasions wear,” she said.

“Then I got a letter earlier this year that the Great Mall was closing,” said Zimmer, who had to move quickly. “It pushed me out and it gave me a great start.”

Q: How did you start Black Tie?

Zimmer put together a business plan and secured financing. She found the new location on West 119th Street with a lease that was more affordable. Black Tie opened this summer.

“My second time around, I knew how to negotiate,” she said.

Zimmer renamed the business and focused solely on special-occasion wear.

“My husband is the owner and I am the manager,” Zimmer said. “My mother, two sons and my daughter help me run the business...They basically help me run sales so I can do the background work.”

Q: Whom do you purchase your inventory from?

“I just go to suppliers in the industry,” she said. “I have had a hard time getting this business off the ground...I do try to buy from suppliers who are in the U.S., but it is hard to.”

If Black Tie doesn’t carry the right size on an item, Zimmer can order it with in within a week. She uses a point of sale computer system to track inventory.

“I have a pretty well stocked store, so I carry a lot of inventory,” said Zimmer. That inventory includes 19 colors of suspenders for infants, one of the most popular items Black Tie carries.

Recently, Zimmer added dancewear, including shoes, for both boys and girls.

Q: How do you market to customers?

Zimmer said she is struggling with what is the best tactic to promote the business.

“In the mall I had the pull of other stores,” she said. “Here I am struggling.”

When she had Lads and Lassies, Zimmer bought magazine advertising. “I spent a lot of money and it was not impactful,” she said.

Now Zimmer is trying direct marketing through letters and fliers to wedding planners, churches, dance studios and surrounding businesses. She is doing all the marketing herself. What money she does spend on marketing is directed toward revamping Black Tie’s web site.

Q: What does the future hold for Black Tie?

“I do see that it will grow,” Zimmer said. “I have thought about going to downtown Kansas City and spreading to St. Louis but nothing in the works.”

Zimmer said she loves what she is doing “but I would like to find the magic ticket for people to know where I am at.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Business Snapshot: For special-occasion clothing, Black Tie Affair caters to kids."