Former Department Store Buyer Launches Fashion Consultancy

Grace Kang, owner of the New York-area Pink Olive gift boutiques, has launched Retail Recipes—a business created to help designers devise a strategy for growing their retail customer base.

As a former buyer for Barney’s, Bloomingdale’s and Saks.com, Kang spent much of her time at the department store level discovering and guiding new designers, which made the transition to consultancy a natural move for her. “I was amazed how many designers didn’t have a firm grasp on the buying process,” Kang said. “My goal behind Retail Recipes is to educate and nurture designers to help them understand what buyers are looking for and make their product ‘retail-ready’ before hitting the marketplace.”

As her tagline “Keep It Simple” suggests, Kang—whose clients have included Paper-Lovely, Lindie & Friends/Crafty Kids, Om Aroma and Daily Candy’s Swirl.com—believes there are basic tools to honing assortments, maximizing sales opportunities, and understanding buyers’ open-to-buy system and overall mentality. For a menu of Kang’s consulting services, visit RetailRecipes.com.