Brainstorming List

1. Is Consignment on the rise, at a peak point, or declining in Athens?
2. How do consignment store employees and owners view the downtown boutiques and the addition of chain stores?
3. Profile of the Cheeky Peach owner about the growth and continued success of the store, the plans for the future, and how she has incorporated digital and social media into the website and various platforms.
4. The terms “Shop” vs. “Boutique” when it comes to thrift, vintage and consignment. Which works in Athens and why?
5. How downtown stores merchandise in order to appeal to Athens townies as well as UGA students.
6. Cover an event held at one of the stores for a local cause or philanthropy and discuss how it impacts the community.
7. How places like Cine, Creature Comforts, and Terrapin help support and showcase the local fashion scene.
8. Cover a fashion show put on by the student group, “The Agency,” and interview one of the board members about their involvement
9. The fashion side of game days, how it has changed throughout the years and what staples stay the same.
10. Interview the owners of The Red Dress Boutique and talk about how their store has changed and grown since being on Shark Tank.
11. How Atlanta has become the “New York of the South” in the fashion and lifestyle world.
12. Ekkos apparel, founded by a UGA student to provide secondary education to orphans in Africa
13. On campus vs. Off-campus, how student’s style changes from day to night at UGA
14. Athens as a backdrop for photoshoots, music videos, and movie scenes.
15. Denim through the years, how jeans have made their way from pants, to vests, to skirts and back.
16. Revival of sneaker culture for all occasions
17. Beading, how students have started their own businesses making jewelry
18. Bene Scarves, a company started by UGA grads that gives proceeds to children in Ghana
19. Non-downtown boutiques such as “Simply Southern,” and “Entourage” and how they feel advantaged/disadvantaged by their location.
20. Pop-Up shops around Athens, strategy, plans, and reasoning for this retail format

A budget is a list of stories that explains what the story is about, summarizes what’s been written about it in the past, and how you plan to go about reporting it, i.e. who you’ll talk to and what challenges you might find.

Profile

1. Ekkos Apparel founder Rachel Ehlinger graduated from UGA last May, and she still resides in Athens working on expanding her business. Many people have written about her growing success, but what would be covered in this piece is why stay in Athens after graduation? Ehlinger believes that Athens is where her apparel line will grow, and I want to know why she believes that and how she is going to make the small town lead to big growth. There are many other philanthropic fashion lines based out of Athens, especially for being a rural community, how will Ekkos stick out from the pack and continue to reach new markets and consumers from staying in Athens. Ekkos is all about providing education for children in Africa, and this profile would discuss how Ehlinger’s personal education influenced this organization and why she feels that providing education to children specifically is important to her.
   1. Sources: Rachel Ehlinger – Owner, Samantha Hertzig: Photographer for past Ekkos shoots as well as Social Media intern, the local seamstress, Contact Ehlinger to get in contact with one of the “traveling interns,” Molly Samuel: Ekkos Customer.
2. Cheeky Peach has been open since August of 2010, and the owner Katie Jacobs, has worked to grow this boutique from the ground up. As a UGA Alum, she has put everything into this store and what it stands for. Not only has she made the store a local hotspot, but the majority of interns and employees are fashion merchandising students. This profile would cover not only her own personal story, but why she feels it is important to train UGA students in the retail setting, what she hopes to teach her employees, and what mentors she had or wishes she had to help her as she created Cheeky Peach.
   1. Sources: Katie Jacobs, Lainey Felsenthal: New employee, ask Jacobs for a source that has mentored or inspired her in her career.

Trend

1. Pop-up Shops across Athens and the entire country are becoming a prominent outlet for retailers to reach new customers and target markets that they would not normally reach. Cheeky Peach has done a pop-up shop at Terrapin, and UGA Fashion students have created “Couture A La Cart” to sell fashions off a cart on campus. This trend is a new and exciting spin on retail, and I would love to cover it from the fashion students perspective as well as from the well-established boutique perspective. Will this continue to be a trend for much longer or will the surprise aspect go away? Have new customers been gained from these efforts?
   1. Sources: Katie Jacobs: Cheeky Peach,
2. Technology in Retail downtown: Compare how different stores, from local boutiques to Urban Outfitters and discuss how retailers are using technology to their advantage. What are they doing that makes them different from their neighboring stores. How shoppers can come to a store with only their phone and be able to make a purchase. Discuss Urban Outfitters app, Apple Pay, and other technological advancements. Sources: Urban Outfitters manager, Red Dress Boutique Manager, stop local shoppers on their phones and ask for an interview.

Pick-em

1. Is consignment on the rise, at a standstill or on a decline in Athens? Consignment and thrift seems to be a thread woven through the Athens downtown culture, but how do people on the inside of the industry feel? Interview Dynamite, Community, and other thrift and consignment managers to see how they feel about this issue. Where do they see their stores going and how do they compete or coincide with the other retailers downtown?
2. On-Campus vs. Off-campus apparel, how students dress and shop differently for both occasions. Interview fashion merchandising students and non-fashion merchandising students to see their different point of view on this subject. Also interview a Fashion Merchandising professor and a non-fashion merchandising professor to get their views on how their students dress. Is the dress too casual or does it not impact the classroom?