Making Mini Me

It might seem that Kilcullen is a small enough place to support a specialist boutique for childrens clothes, but that's just the business that Georgia and Scarlett Mullions have managed to make work in just 18 months.



The 'Mini Me' shop at Hillcrest has earned a reputation in and beyond the village for offering the brightest range of childrens clothes at competitive prices. The stock includes some of the best known designer brands specialising in childrens wear.

"It's going good," says Scarlett, who manages the day to day operation of the enterprise that was originally Georgia's idea. "The first year was a bit tough, trying to find out what were the right brands to stock for the customer base around here."

Neither of the sisters had a background in clothing -- Scarlett trained as a Montessori teacher and Georgia worked in another business. So the learning curve was quite steep.

"But for this season now we're quite happy that we have the right level of stock and the correct variety," Scarlett says.

The choice of Kilcullen as a location was partly because they have family living here and so they always knew the town. Scarlett is from Enniskerry while Georgia moved to Athgarvan some six years ago.

"It took a lot of planning, and time to find a premises," says Scarlett. "And though we had the benefit of advice from a friend of Georgia's who has a similar shop in Dublin, there was a lot to learn. Indeed, we're still learning!"

The brands that have worked include Me Ttoo, 3 Pomme, Lego and Alphabet. New ones which are not available elsewhere in the area are planned for this season.

The Hillcrest location is a good showcase area, as almost all of the traffic going through Kilcullen passes right by the Mini Me shop. And at peak times it can be slow traffic, so there's plenty of opportunity for those in cars to see what's in the window.

"It also helps that there are other fashion shops on Hillcrest, so that the location has become something of a fashion centre in the area."

The business caters mainly from newborn to age ten, though there are some items suitable for girls up to 12. And though there is stock for both boys and girls, Scarlett says she has 'learned the hard way' that there's only business for 'good wear' in boys clothes.

With Kilcullen and its hinterland having experienced a strong growth in population over the last five years, there are now many more young families in the village that has become a town, and this is the core customer base. But word about Mini Me has spread a fair bit further and there are regular customers from other growing settlement areas such as Calverstown.

"We also get people from Naas and Newbridge coming to us. They seem to like what we have to offer, and there's easy parking here too."

The fashion business, whether for adults of children, is always a difficult one in which to move every piece of stock, so Mini Me has similar periodic Sales as do other fashion shops, which offer extra value for those who take the opportunity to look in.

"We also have our Bargain Bins all year round, and they are very popular as there's always something in there that appeals to someone."

Mini Me has started to do a small range of childrens shoes, and the shop is planning to move into school uniforms for the next school year.

Brian Byrne.