Bright sundresses, bonnets, bows and Lilly Pulitzer play big in the South — and then there is Hampden, the women’s designer retailer in Charleston, S.C., where the buying approach is anything but provincial.
“One thing I can do as a small business owner is continually take risks and make an effort to educate and style clients and not allow the Southern mind-set to dictate what we carry,” said Stacy Smallwood, the owner and founder of Hampden.
“My clients discover what we think will be great for them. We built that trust over the last 15 years.”
For fall 2022, “We picked up Victor Glemaud, Sukeina, Meryll Rogge, Dries Van Noten, and each season I probably pick up 15 new designers. I’m always looking for what’s next.”
Last week Hampden celebrated 15 years in business with an outdoor dinner for 75 clients held at a private residence on John’s Island. Fire pits lit up the marsh water and Brooke Garwood, from the band Girl Pluto, performed. The celebration continued the next day with a Proenza Schouler fall 2022 fashion show on a makeshift runway inside Hampden’s 7,200-square-foot distribution center. About 150 clients attended and many shopped the collection at a pop-up on the site.
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“Having Jack [McCollough] and Lazaro [Hernandez] with us for this special milestone meant so much to me and our clients, many of whom traveled across the country to join us for this occasion,” said Smallwood, referring to Proenza Schouler’s founders and creative directors. “Their collection truly embodies an effortless and subtle luxury that resonates strongly with our clientele.”
Along the historic, palm-tree lined King Street in Charleston, Hampden has a unique presence comprised of four storefronts for a total of 10,000 square feet. Hampden’s buildings date back to the 1870s, adding charm to the settings. In total, they display about 100 established and emerging luxury and contemporary fashion labels, including ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags, jewelry and accessories.
Two of the stores, each with the nameplate Hampden, sell designer collections for women including Adam Lippes, Carolina Herrera, Christopher John Rogers, Isabel Marant, Khaite, Kika Vargas, Lingua Franca, La Double J, Lizzie Fortunato, Plan C, Marni, Rachel Comey, Sacai, Simone Rocha and Stella McCartney, among others.
Another shop, called James, focuses on women’s shoes including Clergerie, JW Anderson and Ganni. The fourth site, called Small, sells women’s contemporary collections such as Love Shack Fancy, Mara Hoffman and Ulla Johnson. Small is five doors away from the other three storefronts.
Hampden’s sites are named after Smallwood’s great-great-grandfather, James Hampden Small, who emigrated from Scotland and settled in Charleston.
Asked if having four storefronts rather than one is beneficial or not, Smallwood replied, “It feels like one store,” adding that three of the sites are contiguous and connected by interior entrances to get from shop to shop without having to go outside. Elsewhere around town, the competition is primarily monobrand boutiques such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, and there is a Lilly Pulitzer as well.
“One of the greatest things about being in Charleston is that it draws seven million tourists a year,” said Smallwood. “We have a very loyal clientele from all over the country, and we have the opportunity to continually grow. That’s the beauty of it. We have so many different people walking into the door, whether from Canada or Chicago, with different needs. We are constantly meeting new clients. That keeps it interesting and so fun from me.” Outside of South Carolina, New York is the second biggest source for clients; Los Angeles, the third.
Smallwood said that last year Hampden generated $16.2 million in volume, compared to $8.5 million in 2020 and $7.9 million in 2019. Showing a small lift in volume in 2020 during the height of the pandemic was “a huge accomplishment,” Smallwood said. “The hardest part was that our margin wasn’t there, because we had to take more markdowns.” She projects $20 million in volume for 2022.
Typically, however, Hampden has just two markdown periods during the year, occurring around Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. “We really stay on the designer markdown schedule,” Smallwood said.
She said her company is “very profitable” and self-funded. About 70 percent of the volume is generated at the stores; 30 percent is generated on the website, hampdenclothing.com. “In the next five years, e-commerce could easily be 50 percent of our business,” said Smallwood.
The website two weeks ago added “Try Now,” a feature that enables shoppers to have a trial period to touch, feel, and try on items at home. When the trial ends, items that didn’t work out are returned and shoppers pay only for the items they want to keep. The feature allows shoppers to try on up to eight items.
Hampden’s distribution center, located at 747 Meeting Street, is about two miles away from its brick-and-mortar retail sites. “We need every inch of it,” said Smallwood. “We use it for our photo studio for the e-commerce site, outbound orders for e-commerce, and for inbound shipments for the stores and approvals for clients.” Golf carts are often used by the staff to go back and forth between the stores and the distribution center.
Hampden operates with four personal shoppers, each with an assistant, and four stylists. Once a stylist achieves over $1 million in sales for the year, they get promoted to personal shopper, and get an office, as well as an assistant. In addition, the personal shoppers travel to the New York and Europe market weeks. The buyers frequently email and text clients on what’s being bought and what’s been delivered or about to be.
“Everyone is on a salary. We are genuinely here to help service the customer,” said Smallwood. “We really home in on creating a buy based on what customers will like and also taking risks on what we think is important.”
After graduating from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 2001, Smallwood, who is originally from Greenville, S.C., entered the Neiman Marcus buying program in Dallas and worked at the luxury retailer for a few years. At age 27, she returned to South Carolina and launched Hampden in 2007. She steadily grew its footprint, first at 357 King Street in a 1,500-square-foot space. Two years later, Hampden expanded one block south to 314 King Street, with another 2,800 square feet, and in 2012, Smallwood launched the James shoes and accessories shop at 312 1⁄2 King Street, bringing the specialty retailer’s size to 4,200 square feet.
In 2018, Hampden opened the 1,800-square-foot Small, at 324 King Street, and two years later, Hampden expanded by another 4,000 square feet, bringing the total space to 10,000 square feet. Hampden said Smallwood is considered the largest specialty store on King Street. In 2021, she began leasing the distribution center.
Smallwood has a clear idea about what it will take to go another 15 years and beyond. “The key to longevity is always being willing to pivot and adapt. One thing consistent about this business is that it’s about change. There has been so much change in technology since I opened. We have re-platformed our website six times. Every two years, it feels out of date again.”
Hampden.com plugs into the Shopify platform. “There is a flexibility there that allows a smaller business to grow. Before it was all manual or hardcoded.”