Soca Clothing.
Representatives for Birmingham-based Soca Clothing and sister shop, Soca Girl, today announced both stores will soon relocate a few doors down from their current homes on 18th Street South in Downtown Homewood.
“Both Soca and Soca Girl have been successful in their current locations, but we are in need of more selling space," said Jeff Tenner, owner & CFO according to a news release. “The new locations for each store will increase the square footage allowing us more flexibility with merchandising and product selection.”
Soca — currently located at 2820 18th Street South — will relocate two doors down to 2824 18th Street South. Soca Girl — now across the street from Soca at 2815 18th Street South — will move into Soca’s former space. Soca will increase its floor space by 1,500 square feet and Soca Girl by 400 square feet.
“Having the amount of product we do in our current space comes with the difficulty of displaying it in a way that allows customers to see all of their choices clearly. We are designing the new space with that in mind, and our goal is to keep the same great selection in style and price point while easily and visibly displaying merchandise,” said Kathleen Tenner, owner & CEO, in the release.
The new Soca space will undergo a renovation, while the new Soca Girl will be refreshed to keep with the current location’s playful design and aesthetics. An in-house team led by Morgan Gillespie is designing both spaces. Construction began on the new Soca space on May 1, and both locations are expected to open by August 15, according to the release.
“This is a new and exciting chapter for Soca, as we’ve evolved over the past five years to fully understand who we are and what we want to be as a company,” said Gillespie, creative marketing director and interior designer.
Other improvements will include two additional dressing rooms and an extra checkout register in Soca, as well easier entrance and parking options for Soca Girl customers.
Soca Clothing first opened its doors in May 2000 at Five Points South in Downtown Birmingham as a boutique catering to girls ages 14-25. By 2007, according to the release, Soca had outgrown its 1,200-square-foot space and relocated to Downtown Homewood, more than doubling its size. Soca Girl was opened two years later.
“When Soca moved from Southside in 2007, we saw a sales increase of 100 percent in the first year. We’ve seen a steady increase every year since that move,” said Tenner.
For more information, visit SocaClothing.com and SocaGirl.com.
