e-spaces

By Lucky Biyase

In 2005 a barely-out-of-teens Rozanne Immerman won a year’s free rent space at the Gateway shopping mall in Durban after she entered a fashion design competition.

This is how Immerman, now 25, was catapulted into business. She says: “I had no retail experience, so I had to learn fast.”

Immerman entered the competition while completing a fashion design qualification in Durban.

“I entered the fashion competition and won… and the rest is history,” she says.

Her fashion boutique, Rozanne and Pushkin’s, employs eight people, and has dressed some of the rich and famous.

So far she has two shops, one at The Zone in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and another at the Gateway shopping mall.

The Rosebank shop exudes a hip and urban vibe – much like the customers who frequent it.

Both her shops stock clothes from fashion-trendsetting countries such as France, Italy and the UK.

“I go on buying trips six times a year to ensure that there is always supply of exclusive stock in my shop,” Immerman says.

In addition, she sells items that she has made herself.

Her motto, she says, is to sell clothes that put a smile on her customer’s faces.

She attributes her success to great service and fashion advice, as well as selling only three items of a particular item to keep it almost exclusive. On top of that, she spends time talking to her customers explaining where the items have been imported from.
Immerman says she has always been passionate about fashion, but winning the competition gave her a big confidence boost. She has since entered several other design competitions – some of which she has won, while in others she was placed as a finalist.

With Immerman there is no sign of becoming complacent with the success she has made so far. “I plan to open my third store next year, and in the next five years I want to have four Rozanne and Pushkin’s nationwide with reliable staff and a happy clientele.”

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