Greenville Business Magazine 2010 May issue : Page 60
››emerging companies BY KATRINA DANIEL | PHOTOGRAPHS BY COMMERCIAL IMAGING The Jeans Chicks The song goes, “Tall and tan and young and lovely, the Girl from Ipanema goes walking”... in perfect jeans. Now those perfect fit jeans have made their debut in Greenville. So, how many times have women complained that they could not find the perfect jeans? They either fit in the waist and not in the derriere, or they’re too long or too short. Taking them to a dressmaker to have them tailored kind of defeats the purpose of casual jeans, and many times the alterations cost more than the jeans did. Two Greenville women, Kathy Moca and Emilie Whitaker, say they have constructed the perfectly fitting jeans for women! The jeans chicks’ real business name is Beija-Flor-which means ‘hummingbird’ in Portugese. Moca and Whitaker, who are mother and daughter in real life, have Brazilian roots because Kathy Moca is married to Brazilian engi- neer Carlos Moca, who is also Emilie’s 60 GREENVILLEBUSINESSMAG.COM | MAY 2010 father, and the family spent many years living there before returning to Greenville. Moca has always been in the garment business, first as a boutique owner, then as a regional salesperson traveling through- out the Southeast, representing New York designers. Before that, the family lived in Brazil and that’s where Moca says they got their inspiration, “Emilie and I always had a dream to be in business together and we share a love and appreciation for everything Brazilian. On one of my trips to Brazil to find the right product to bring to the US market, I brought some jeans back for Emilie to try. The week- end I arrived, Emilie and her girlfriend Katherine had been on a shopping excursion trying to find designer jeans with no success. She and Katherine had a miserable experience and then I arrived with these jeans from Brazil and that fit them both and their other girlfriends as well — it was amazing. We realized that Brazilians knew how to make a jean to fit a woman with curves. Eventually, we made many trips to Brazil to find the right manufacturer to partner with who could accommodate our designs.” Moca says their signature jean, “the Jennifer Jean,” is their own design which they perfected by traveling up and down the East coast. “Emilie and I literally took our show on the road and met hundreds of women in their homes at retail shows, getting them to try on the jeans and giving us invaluable feedback. It was an incredible experience and made us realize how universal this miserable jeans shop- ping experience is among most women. We quickly realized that our great fitting ‘Jennifer Jean’ was a winner.” Beija-Flor Jeans are sold at Plaza Suite Boutique in downtown Greenville on Main Street. Kathy Moca can be reached by e-mail at Kathy@ilovethesejeans.com
>>emerging companies
Katrina Daniel
The Jean Chicks
The song goes, “Tall and tan and young and lovely, the Girl from Ipanema goes walking”... in perfect jeans. Now those perfect fit jeans have made their debut in Greenville.
So, how many times have women complained that they could not find the perfect jeans? They either fit in the waist and not in the derriere, or they’re too long or too short. Taking them to a dressmaker to have them tailored kind of defeats the purpose of casual jeans, and many times the alterations cost more than the jeans did.
Two Greenville women, Kathy Moca and Emilie Whitaker, say they have constructed the perfectly fitting jeans for women! The jeans chicks’ real business name is Beija-Flor-which means ‘hummingbird’ in Portugese. Moca and Whitaker, who are mother and daughter in real life, have Brazilian roots because Kathy Moca is married to Brazilian engineer Carlos Moca, who is also Emilie’s father, and the family spent many years living there before returning to Greenville.
Moca has always been in the garment business, first as a boutique owner, then as a regional salesperson traveling throughout the Southeast, representing New York designers.
Before that, the family lived in Brazil and that’s where Moca says they got their inspiration, “Emilie and I always had a dream to be in business together and we share a love and appreciation for everything Brazilian. On one of my trips to Brazil to find the right product to bring to the US market, I brought some jeans back for Emilie to try. The weekend I arrived, Emilie and her girlfriend Katherine had been on a shopping excursion trying to find designer jeans with no success. She and Katherine had a miserable experience and then I arrived with these jeans from Brazil and that fit them both and their other girlfriends as well — it was amazing. We realized that Brazilians knew how to make a jean to fit a woman with curves. Eventually, we made many trips to Brazil to find the right manufacturer to partner with who could accommodate our designs.”
Moca says their signature jean, “the Jennifer Jean,” is their own design which they perfected by traveling up and down the East coast. “Emilie and I literally took our show on the road and met hundreds of women in their homes at retail shows, getting them to try on the jeans and giving us invaluable feedback. It was an incredible experience and made us realize how universal this miserable jeans shopping experience is among most women. We quickly realized that our great fitting ‘Jennifer Jean’ was a winner.”
Beija-Flor Jeans are sold at Plaza Suite Boutique in downtown Greenville on Main Street.
Kathy Moca can be reached by e-mail at Kathy@ilovethesejeans.com
UPS Store Downtown
Do you live or work downtown? A tried and true business friend has just been updated to make your life a lot easier.
Bo Foster has just taken over the UPS store in downtown Greenville for all the right reasons, “ I love the smell of commerce in the morning. You can’t beat downtown Greenville. The City has done wonders for with this area and it has developed a very friendly vibe. There is a real sense of community here among the businesses. It feels like everyone is looking out for everyone else here. As a new business owner, I’ve had the privilege of learning a great deal from my peers.
Located at 209 N. Main Street, Foster says, UPS Store 4316 is making life way more convenient for the people who live and work close by, “ In addition to shipping, we also pack your items, we also pack your items. We offer a full array of document services as well as mailbox rentals, office supplies, book binding, laminating, as far as business solutions, there’s not a lot we don’t do.”
Foster goes on to say that personal mailboxes are “the hot thing right now. Unlike a P.O. Box, the personal mailboxes offered at the UPS Store have an actual physical street address. People seem to like having an address on Main Street.” Note: a personal mailbox may also be one of the last truly private, confidential ways to get and send mail.
Going to Foster’s UPS store has an additional perk that not many others offer,” I actually have a BA in the visual arts so I am always willing to do design work for anyone who wants it. I’ve done menus, customer survey cards, price tags, you name it. I’m always looking for a challenge to push me as an artist.”
Foster continues “ As with most small business owners, I was attracted to the idea being my own boss. The idea of long lunches, flexible hours and tons of vacation time was very appealing to me. However, once I became my own boss, all those illusions quickly shattered.”
There you have it, A UPS guy with services that make life run smoother..and a sense of humor to make you smile as you send off those bills and that way overdue wedding present.
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