Nautical, peppy colors, graceful elegance–all of these merge on 21 Goldsborough Street in Easton, Maryland, the corner of poised femininity and flirty-chic. Lead manager Taylor Edwards discusses the merchandise and the clientele it’s attracted over the years.
Name: Taylor Edwards
Role: Manager
CollegeFashionista: How long have you been working at Dragonfly?
Taylor Edwards: I’ve been here since it opened, around March of 2011. Back then it was called Gracie, but the name has since changed.
CF: What was starting the business like [under the new name]?
TE: The owner had a store in Cambridge called Dragonfly, so it was a fairly seamless transition. They didn’t carry the exact same things, but she did carry some of the same things Gracie carried.
CF: What’s your niche client market? Who is your customer?
TE: Primarily Talbot County upscale women. We have a lot of locals that come in from Easton, St. Michaels and Oxford. We have a lot of loyal customers, like Denise here who live in D.C. and has a second home here. A lot of our customers have second homes here in town.
CF: Where do you find inspiration for your merchandise?
TE: We go to the shows in New York where all the designers go, the Coachery and so on. But we also know what sells best for us. Sail to Sable and The Island Company, for instance; they fly out of here, so we tend to reorder from them a lot. Their summer clothes are adorable! It depends on what we see; sometimes we bring in new merchandise.
CF: How has the rise of social media and digital technologies impacted how you market to clients?
TE: We’re doing it, too, but honestly, I haven’t seen very much difference. We do use Facebook and emails, but a lot of people just don’t open emails [from retailers]. I see more people come into the store if we still use snail mail and the postcard. It has reached a younger audience, yes, but we still get a better response from a sent postcard. In lieu of that, now we do carry a lot of things that are at a good price point for younger people, whereas with Gracie things were more expensive.
CF: Yes! I received a postcard from you back in high school, and I kept it above my desk hung at eye level because it had such visual appeal and was great decoration. It was beautiful!
TE: Diane had great design sense! She actually developed the pattern for our postcards.
Learn More: Shop at Dragonfly here and visit their Facebook page today!
