By Stacey Lee, Woodbridge High School, Grade 12
May 23, 2011
Senior Corliss Mejia and her sister sophomore Camille Mejia launched their business brainchild—an online fashion boutique called Newport Madison on May 8, 2011.
The Mejia sisters are class council members, mentors to freshmen, Varsity tennis players and now are entrepreneurs of their own e-commerce company after months of preparation.
“Our first business plan was actually not supposed to be a clothing store, but instead a fundraising site where we would sell things like personalized mugs, iPhone cases, and t-shirts,” Corliss said, explaining the evolution of their idea. “We later changed our goal, which transformed into a fashion company.”
After Newport Madison’s inception, the launch truly turned into a family effort: “For the first couple of months, the idea of starting a business simply floated around and not much was done to get the company going,” Camille explained. “Soon, however, everything started coming together; my dad helped us a lot by getting a “Doing Business As” so that we could legally use the domain name, as well as a California reseller’s permit so that we can sell clothes that we import from various vendors around the world. My mom was the backbone to the company; she made sure we stayed motivated.”
After the business technicalities, they had to work on the image of the company, manifested through a six-hour photo shoot of the available merchandise, modeled by their friends.
Now that the website, www.newportmadison.com (named after the universal stylishness of California’s Newport Beach and New York City’s Madison Avenue respectively) is up and running to a warm reception—“We sold out on a couple of items during the first few hours of our Grand Opening!” The sisters are looking to expand even further.
The young entrepreneurs are currently scouting locations to host their Open House, where those interested in learning more about Newport Madison can view the clothes for themselves and get to know the founders.
“Our store is bohemian, urban, and vibrant,” Camille said. “We want something that will be popular from coast to coast and has an upscale feel. We want to become a major player in the teen fashion industry.”
For more information, visit www.newportmadison.com.
