Vol. XXII, No. 143
Friday, February 20, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Corporate News
Corp File:
THE RIGHT fit matters a lot as far as clothes are concerned. With ready-to-wear apparel manufactured to fit a variety of body types, it is impossible nowadays to find an outfit that one could perfectly fit into.
One company saw this as an opportunity to provide a service that was lacking in the market.
Alterations Plus, a professional clothing alteration service provider now makes it possible for ready-made clothes to perfectly fit the wearer.
"Alterations Plus started with the need to alter ready-made clothing," Alterations Plus President Ma. Lucia J. Carlos said in an interview.
She noted that since she herself likes wearing ready-made apparel, she would ask sewers from her garment manufacturing company LJC Garments, Inc. to alter her clothes to make these fit her perfectly.
The company, which specializes in repairing and altering clothes and other garments, started in 1996.
What sets the company apart from other clothing alteration service providers is that it applies advanced sewing techniques such as invisible hemming, which can handle the most delicate fabrics.
"We have special machines for different jobs unlike others who use the same machine for all jobs. We use different machines for delicate wear, knitted items and sports wear," Ms. Carlos said.
She added that the store has a highly trained staff to ensure that the changes made to the clothes are done according to the customer’s specifications — whether it is just a simple cut or extensive adjustments involving the body, waist, shoulders or sleeves, as well as fixing hemlines or holes and changing buttons, zippers, pads or garters.
"Our company’s primary goal is to try to satisfy our clients," she said, adding that fulfilling customer satisfaction is the key to the company’s success.
The company also performs back jobs without additional costs should the client request for further adjustments.
All alterations are done in each store and staff members are instructed to keep items brought to the shop in a safe and clean place to prevent damage and keep these clean.
Apart from the repair of clothes, other services offered by the company include putting together made-to-order clothes, costumes, school and office uniforms and even wedding gowns.
Every store has an in-house designer that can sketch and discuss designs with a client.
The company likewise offers laundry services such as dry cleaning and stain removal.
From simple clothing repair, Alterations Plus has expanded its services by offering custom-made curtains and suitcase covers.
At present, the company has 15 stores in major malls in the metropolis. Twelve of these are owned by the company, while the other three are franchises.
The company recently opened a store at Serendra in Taguig City and plans to continue expanding.
"We are open to franchising stores so that this service will be accessible all over Metro Manila," Ms. Carlos said.
She said they might also open stores outside Metro Manila.
While the economy is expected to continue slowing down this year with the deepening global financial crisis, Alterations Plus remains optimistic about sales growth.
This is because people would most likely think twice about discarding their old clothes and buying new ones, Ms. Carlos said.
"We may experience an increase in sales because before, we could afford to discard a piece of clothing for any reason. Now, we will alter all these items to try to make them fit us instead of buying new clothes," she added.
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