By Meaghan O’Neal
The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent
Allie and Amber Malott, twins from Wesley Chapel, saw their dreams come true on June 29 when they opened their own consignment store.
The 16-year-old teens have a passion for fashion design and are hoping to launch their careers with their store A & A Boutique, 2653 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Suite 108 in Wesley Chapel.
They have attended several fashion shows and enjoy blogging about their trend endeavors. While many teens would stop there in their hobbies, these sisters have the entrepreneurial spirit to go farther.
“It’s going to be so fantastic because we love fashion,” said Allie, the younger of the twins, “and we’re going to be living in it every day.”
The twins spent a month collecting clothing and fashion accessories from consigners in the expectation of opening the boutique. These items aren’t just any old shirt or skirt; they’re high end and quality clothing, shoes, handbags and everything else needed to spruce up an outfit.
The teens love to shop at quality stores, such as Neiman Marcus, but most locations are far away from their East Pasco County community.
When discussing the inspiration behind the shop, Amber and Allie expressed their frustration at the distance Wesley Chapel was from such high-class clothing stores. Allie recalled a time when they were thinking out loud after one of these long drives south.
“We realized that somebody needed to come up with a high fashion designer store that sold only authentic things in the Wesley Chapel area,” Allie said. “Then we thought we could.”
The girls created the store with the goal of authenticity in mind as they meticulously check all items for their quality and condition.
With this goal also comes the desire to create fashion affordability. All of the items are 50 to 70 percent off of the original store prices so consumers can more easily purchase luxurious brands, such as Prada, Gucci, and Tori Burch that they adore so much. Consigners can also expect to make 50 to 80 percent profit from the items sold.
While they both love to shop, the inspiration for their boutique doesn’t only come from that passion. It also stems from their plans to become fashion designers.
When getting advice from an experienced designer, the sisters were told to either start interning or get experience in business and marketing. They didn’t want to be split up by learning from different stylists, so the twins decided to get the needed experience by opening their boutique.
But they’re not stopping there. They also have big plans for next year.
“We want to be fashion designers,” Amber said. “We’re going to launch our own line next year.”
For the past few years, Amber and Allie have been drawing, designing and sewing with the plan of starting their own fashion line. They hope the fall of 2013 will see the realization of that dream and that the experience they gain from co-owning the store will help in that endeavor and future career.
For more information on A & A Boutique, visit www.aa-boutique.com.