Luxurious Bikinis, Business Growth and Candice Galek

How did you come up with the name of the company?

The name Bikini Luxe is a play off of my nickname, Bikini Geek. Growing up in South Florida, and living on the beach provides a lot of time to lounge around in a tiny bikini. The term “luxe” came in when I began choosing brands for the company to feature, and realizing how they trumped their competition in fit and quality. You can wear any of the brands we carry and feel luxurious and classy, and feeling good is a top priority when it comes to wearing a swimsuit. You don’t want to be seen in the same swimsuit as someone else at the beach, Luxury swimwear helps to eliminate that issue. Don’t let the term “Bikini” fool you though, Bikini Luxe offers more than just swimwear, it’s more of a “on and off the sand” kind of shop.
What do you think is the driving factor for your success and growth recently?

Determinition and curiousity. We strive to think outside of the box, and work really hard to stay with the times in terms of advertising and marketing, trying things that most companies don’t understand or deem worthy of working on. This has truly helped guide this small business in the right direction. Also, we are expanding at an alarming rate, we started out featuring swimwear only, and we now feature our own brand of jewelry and clothing. We offer other quite popular brands as well, some of which have recently been featured in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Shape, and Sports Illustrated Swim.
Where do you see the company going in 2015?

We will continue to grow and expand to other areas. We have been taking a lot of time to sit down and plan things out. We know what works best for us at this point, so we plan to push harder in those areas and expand globally. Expect our brand to branch out into different areas of fashion and style. We only featured local South Florida brands at the beginning, but now we have West Coast brands and even a few International labels. Loungewear, active wear, and our own swimwear line are all in the works. We have even been thinking a lot about a men’s line, they really get shafted in the fashion industry.
What makes a good bikini? What are some of its most important features?

A good bikini is one that is durable and wont fray or have issues with snaps and strings. It must feel comfortable to wear, as you are essentially parading around half naked, feeling confident is a big deal. The fit of the swimsuit must compliment your body, and not cut in on the sides or back. Salt and chlorinated water are unbelievably hard on swimwear so it is vital that you take good care of your string bikini. Most of all a good bikini is one that you love to wear, and get a lot of compliments in.
If you could leave our readers with one piece of business advice, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to change direction when you see an opportunity. If we stayed stagnant, we would only be selling swimwear. That doesn’t leave you much room for growth, great brands don’t just pop up every single day and work with you, so you need to be active in searching out your next route of business. Be true to your company motto, but be open to learning and growing. Many of the major retail companies started out as a hobby, mom and pop type of shop, or just a simply Etsy store. Had they been lazy and stuck with the same methods they may not have gotten to be as big as they are now.

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