Your Name: Marja Toan
Business Name: ZweetSport, an online active wear store
Type of Business: E-Commerce; Retail
Business Location: Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Website www.ZweetSport.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zweettweets
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zweet-Sport/
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/zweetsport/
Reason for starting
We are two best friends who decided that our wardrobes were suffering on the account of little, to no “REAL” hot yoga apparel. Thus, ZweetSport was born. It started with us scrounging around in local fabric stores, sewing in our basements, and brainstorming ideas over coffee, and grew to us meeting some amazing people, learning how to import fabric from overseas, and promoting our line while traveling in Rome, Italy. In a nutshell, we’ve come far people, and it’s all in the quest to create literally the hottest line of yoga apparel in our power.
Biggest Success
Our biggest success at ZweetSport has been growing and expanding our collection. Each season we’ve produced a new line of Bikram, pole fitness, CrossFit, yoga & sporting gear. It’s been amazing to listen to our clients and take their feedback to evolve the collection and perfect our athletic gear.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?
Our top challenge is managing capital against our inventory. We are still learning to balance our production runs and promote sales with studios & end users, so not all of our money is tied up in inventory. It’s a constant battle, but we are getting better as we evolve.
Who is your most important role model?
Donna Karen has influenced our company to make season-less & timeless pieces. She is the most important & influential women’s designer in America today. Donna explains that the fashion industry is hard & competitive, you have to have a vision that has longevity. It’s not just about a season, it’s about identifying. It’s always been more about a creative expression of what was a synergy between self and fabrication and the body and an inspiration. Words we use to inspire our collection.