Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now

COVID-19

CdA women’s clothing brand helps shoppers stave off quarantine boredom

NanaMacs Clothing Co. model/chief merchandise officer Kayline Osso poses for a photograph in the company’s new warehouse in Post Falls last Thursday.  (Kathy Plonka/The Spokesman-Review)

Editor’s note: Our series Enterprising Spirit documents how businesses and workers are managing the economy’s slow return to life after its sudden shutdown in March – and adapting to new challenges ahead.

Kayline Osso shops for a living, but even she finds herself scrolling through online stores to stave off the quarantine boredom.

Osso is a model and chief merchandising officer for NanaMacs Clothing Co., a women’s clothing brand based in Coeur d’Alene. Since the beginning of pandemic-related shutdowns this spring, the online retailer has been booming with orders. It briefly laid off a couple of part-time workers at the beginning of the pandemic, anticipating a dramatic slowing-down in demand – then almost immediately hired them back, and started searching for more employees.

“With so many people stuck at home with absolutely nothing to do, I think the natural thing is to start looking for something fun and new online,” Osso said. “I know when I’m bored at home, that’s the first thing I want to do.”

NanaMacs was a small storefront in Coeur d’Alene’s Riverfront district when owners Suzy and Jeremy Shute got started seven years ago. At first, they were a cozy boutique, catering to local women ages 15 to 35 with a style driven by Suzy’s creative vision.

Demand began to explode, and they transitioned to online-only sales soon after.

“At a certain point, the boutique name kind of falls off,” Jeremy Shute said. “We might be a bit too big for that now.”

Since then, they’ve outgrown two warehouses and are moving into a third in Post Falls.

Jeremy Shute attributes a lot of that explosion to NanaMacs’ business model – or models, of which the store employs six full time. Osso and the other five models have built up a cult following, becoming “microinfluencers” while promoting the brand across every imaginable social media platform, Shute said.

Twice a day, the model team hosts Facebook Live events showcasing new inventory, taking questions from customers as they go. A Facebook group for NanaMacs “VIPs,” the brand’s most devoted fans, has over 50,000 members. Under every model’s Instagram post, you’ll see questions on fit and sizing with real-time replies from the women in the pictures.

“It’s a much more personal shopping experience than you’ll see with any big-name clothing retailer,” Shute said. “We sell a whole look, a vision, and a lot of that is making sure that vision is accessible to any body type or any woman. That’s why the models are such an essential part of the business.”

During the height of the pandemic this spring, most of NanaMacs’ office staff, including the models, worked from home. Osso said the personal relationship they strive for with their clientele didn’t stop. The daily live events grew to include the models playing Pictionary and demonstrating DIY beauty product tutorials alongside the standard inventory showcases, just to “bring a little fun to everyone at home,” Osso said.

But with business still booming online, the retailer had 40 employees working in its warehouse to get clothes packed and shipped across the country. To better allow for social distancing, Shute said they started staggering shifts and scheduling fewer people at a time, and implemented a “crazy strict” sanitizing regimen at regular intervals.

The only hiccup in pandemic operations came at the beginning, when shutdowns in China made it difficult to get pieces from suppliers, Shute said. Beyond that, he said the brand hasn’t slowed down for a second.

Osso said she thinks the changes to everyday operations allowed NanaMacs to focus more on developing its relationships with customers, something she said is deeply important to her and the rest of the modeling team. The VIP Facebook group, for example, has always been more than a place to shop. Women come there to share advice, tell stories and make friends with each other, Osso said.

During the pandemic, Osso said it became more important to have a lifeline to the world outside your home, to maintain a sense of normalcy. She feels NanaMacs has helped do that for its countless fans. Group members have supported one another as they grieved for loved ones lost to COVID-19, Osso said, and the brand sends out flowers to customers dealing with loss and illness.

“We’ve always said NanaMacs is more than just clothes; it’s a family,” Osso said. “And that’s more a big deal now than ever. We’ve always wanted you to know you’re more than an order.”