Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Russell and Natalie Bauer.
Growing up, sisters Natalie Bauer and Melissa Russell loved to explore their mother’s wardrobe, a pastime that meant more than simply trying on high heels and painting on lipstick. Arranging their mother’s beautiful dresses, handbags, and accessories into a staged line-up, the Naperville, natives created their very own boutique. Looking back, it wasn’t just a hobby – it was training. This innate work ethic and a love of fashion brought their imaginary shop to life when Natalie and Melissa opened Bella Bianca Bridal Couture in 2008. For these sisters, turning a concept into a business at such a young age came naturally.
As the daughters of two immigrants who became small business owners (Father came to the US from Greece and went on to open 2 successful restaurants, Mother came from Spain and worked her way up to own a large multi-national Manufacturing company), the duo always envisioned an enterprise in their future. After graduating from Illinois State University with a degree in communications, Natalie explored corporate marketing and communications at Near North Insurance Brokerage and Mesirow Financial, gaining nearly 10 years of experience. While overseeing the marketing sector of Mesirow Financials’ private client wealth management practice, her responsibilities included developing marketing initiatives and instituting client relations program, ultimately cultivating service skills essential to her future role as a business owner.
Following an undergraduate education at Purdue University, Melissa parlayed a degree in public relations into a career in event production. As a project manager at Jam Productions, LTD., Melissa assisted in constructing large-scale events featuring headlining entertainment. In managing the needs of talent and celebrities (including everything from travel logistics to favorite M&M’s colors), Melissa mastered the art of catering to clients’ desires. This experience proved to be fundamental preparation for a career in the bridal industry – after all, isn’t every bride a celebrity at her own wedding?
With their parents’ hard work as inspiration, and in the interest of pursuing opportunities in client service, Natalie and Melissa left corporate careers to revisit their playtime partnership. In 2008, they joined together to transform days of dress-up into reality and opened Bella Bianca Bridal Couture in Oakbrook, with a second salon in Chicago’s Gold Coast following in the fall of 2012. While many enter the wedding business for the romance and glamour, these sisters were enamored with elevating the experience for brides; their commitment to customer care and overall business savvy has fostered relationships with top designers and brides, creating a mainstay in Chicago’s bridal industry. The sisters credit much of their success to the entrepreneurial spirit in their family: prioritizing the best interest of their clients above all while maintaining a healthy relationship with one another. Bella Bianca has long been recognized as one of the Nation’s top bridal salons in both selection and service. In 2016, Natalie and Melissa opened a designer sample boutique in Lincoln Park called Aisle Chic. This new salon allows brides the opportunity to purchase designer gowns off the rack at a fraction of the price. Between Aisle Chic, Bella Bianca Oakbrook, and Bella Bianca Chicago; brides shopping for any style and at any price have the opportunity to find a gown and receive top notch customer service along with an experience they will never forget.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like any business, there is always a learning curve. We opened with a strong understanding of the business side, but had to learn everything about bridal from scratch! While some things were a complete shock (such as the fact that we have to spend about half a million dollars per year on the gown samples that brides try on….no, designers don’t give them to us for free which is what we originally thought!!), we have always approached every new idea or policy from the perspective of “how would I feel if I was the bride”. That simple motto has served us well and been the difference between running a business that is only self-serving and one that makes our clients feel like we are on their team.
Many people said that we were crazy for opening a business in 2008 when everything was going downhill in the economy; however, we have always seen it as a benefit. While many existing businesses were finding it difficult to scale back in order to stay afloat, we learned to operate our business from the beginning in those conditions. We started small with inventory and staff and grew as we could support it, rather than the other way around.
Another struggle in the beginning was getting the high-end designers to give us a chance. In high-end bridal, each designer only allows one or two retailers in a metropolitan area to carry their collection. We heard “No” from almost everyone when we were first trying to build our designer list because we were unknowns. We opened with a small but great list of designers who decided to give us a shot. It was so gratifying once we built our strong reputation and the same designers that said No at first, started calling us and asking if we would carry their collections.
Aside from those topics, we face the same struggles that all business owners face. Things like finding and training staff, client services, and the ever-changing world of social media. All of these things mixed with being wives and mothers (we each have 3 kids) makes for a very challenging yet rewarding life!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Bella Bianca Bridal Couture – what should we know?
Bella Bianca Bridal Couture is a full service bridal salon. We carry over 20 of the world’s finest bridal designers and personally select every gown that is in our salons. We are proud to carry a diverse selection in both style and price. We are beyond proud of our reputation with both the public and the bridal industry. We started our business with an emphasis on the experience brides have in our salon and we have never lost sight of that. Everything from the layout of each salon to the way we train our stylists is done with our clients in mind. After all, most brides wait their whole life to shop for their wedding dress and there is no reason that their expectations of that moment should fall flat. We understand that there are so many beautiful gowns available in the work so not every bride will find their gown with us, but we want every bride to feel that they had the best experience in a Bella Bianca salon.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Empathy is probably the key characteristic you need to have in our business. We are part of our clients lives at what is often the most stressful time in their life up to that point. They have put so much pressure on the wedding and all aspects of it being perfect, so we often have to deal with extreme emotions from all ends of the spectrum. It is important that despite the fact that we work with hundreds and hundreds of brides at a time, we treat each individual bride as though they are the only client we have. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the bride and feel how her concerns are affecting her, and only then we can say the correct things to calm the situation. Each bride has different family dynamics and back story that makes her needs different from other clients, so we must consider all of that in order to adequately assist her in this big decision!
Pricing:
- Bella Bianca Oakbrook: Bridal gowns range from $2,500 – $8,000
- Bella Bianca Chicago: Bridal gowns range from $4,000 – $15,000
- Aisle Chic: Designer Samples range from $500 – $3,500
Contact Info:
- Address: Bella Bianca Chicago – 12 West Maple St, 2nd Floor, Chicago 60610
Bella Bianca Oakbrook – 17W527 Roosevelt Rd, Oakbrook Terrace 60181
Aisle Chic – 2324 N Clark, Chicago 60614 - Website: www.bellabianca.com
- Phone: 312-787-2377 (Chicago), 630-627-4027 (Oakbrook), 773-904-7577 (Aisle Chic)
- Email: info@bellabianca.com
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