“With much sadness I must now let you know that VOX will be closing its doors on May 3rd,” wrote Andy McManis, owner of VOX Curvy Couture, in an April 6 blog post.
What?! The VOX that organized everything from glam art exhibits to mermaid-themed collections? The VOX that sold pieces as unique as an eye-shaped clutch? The VOX that celebrated all individuals and encouraged every woman to be extraordinary?
Fellow Columnist Savanah Yaghsezian and I have hit up VOX’s signature events in the past, including a clothing swap and one of the fun street fashion shows, so when I read the closing announcement in a blog post on the store’s website, I had to get the scoop from owner Andy McManis about the store’s closing and the future of the boutique.
“We are looking at our options for a business model,” McManis said. “Being the only store on this side [north of Roosevelt] has made it a little bit more difficult, and we want to make sure that we’re able to serve as many customers as possible.”
McManis also noted the difficult upcoming summer season that often leads to the closing of many businesses.
“People aren’t buying clothing in the summer,” she said. “People aren’t going out. If people are going out, they’re going to malls.”
Another factor, according to McManis, is the change in hours that many businesses implement in the summer, which leaves store fronts with scattered hours that don’t match up with those of neighboring businesses.
“Last year, we tried having all the businesses in the area align their hours,” she said, referring to “Vampire Hours,” a nighttime shopping promotion implemented by Roosevelt shops and restaurants.
Unfortunately, it was still difficult to make every store’s complicated hours match up, which led to “a frustrating experience for the customers,” according to McManis.
Emphasis on customer experience is something that has always been important at VOX, which has been at Roosevelt and Fifth streets since 2013.
When I visited the store recently to speak with McManis, I got to see the hands-on role she has had in giving customers a truly valuable and unique shopping experience. McManis conversed with a customer about the occasion for which she was shopping, gave tailoring advice, and offered to help zip her into the dress she was trying on (a challenging feat every dress-wearer can relate to).
“I know how to give that five-star experience to the everyday woman who a lot of their life, their shopping experience, is hiding, having things not fit, not having one-on-one help, having someone try to help you but they don’t know what they’re talking about,” she said. “People leave (VOX) feeling more confident, excited about themselves and their closet. Even if they don’t buy anything, they’re leaving happier about what their experience was.”
This active role with customers is what led McManis to open her own store in the first place, she said.
“I worked in corporate America for a long time,” said McManis, who has an undergraduate degree in global business management and a master’s degree in education. “And I was happy and I loved my job, but there was still something missing. And I think it was that opportunity to be able to make an impact on women and confidence and those sorts of things.”
Her husband, Joe McManis, said he can see the impact of the body-positive store, which carries sizes from extra small to 6X.
“I’ve been able to see how deeply it affects our customers,” he said. “A lot of people are just, it doesn’t matter what they look like, they’re just so deeply unhappy because somebody told them they should be unhappy for whatever reason … We end up hearing real horror stories, but we can turn that around and make something positive out of it.”
It isn’t too late for customers to head to the store and get a dose of this unique shopping experience. VOX will close its doors on Sunday, but not before this week’s First Friday. According to McManis, some items will be up to 90 percent off! (I might just have to stop in myself.)
McManis notes that although she and the VOX team are looking at different locations, the store isn’t necessarily moving.
“We don’t want to start really talking about having a new location until we’re able to have more of a plan,” she said. “We don’t want people to put off coming in and seeing us before we leave because whatever we’re going to do, it’s going to be vastly different. VOX isn’t going to be reopening. There isn’t gonna be VOX anymore.”
Put simply? The VOX team has “something else on the horizon.”
And I, for one, cannot wait to see what it is.
Contact the columnist at lallnatt@asu.edu
Correction: April 27, 2015: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the location of VOX Curvy Couture. The store is located just north of Roosevelt Street.
