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As late as 6 p.m. on the evening before Privé was to open in the Towne Center at Cedar Lodge, work crews were still laying countertops in the showroom. It was down to the wire. But by the time the morning of Jan. 25 dawned, the upscale lingerie store was ready to welcome its first customers.

Owners Heather Savoy and Leila Blumberg were ready, too. For the better part of six months, the partners and longtime friends had been planning and preparing for this day. They’d done everything by the book. The store was already generating a good buzz, and calls had been coming in almost daily, asking when it would be open.

Still, the fear of the unknown left Blumberg with a stomach full of butterflies.

“It was the not knowing that was hard,” says Blumberg, who arrived at the store about two hours before its 10 a.m. opening that day. “Are we going to have 12 people at the door waiting when we open? Or are we not going to have any customers at all?”

Blumberg needn’t have worried. Though there wasn’t a line snaking around the building when she arrived, Privé had a successful opening day, selling several hundred dollars worth of merchandise. The store has exceeded its goal every month since opening. So far, it’s been a very positive experience.

But in the three-plus months since that day, Blumberg and Savoy have also learned an important lesson: Flexibility is key, especially where adjusting your merchandise mix is concerned.

“One of the biggest challenges any retailer faces when they first open is that they have a vision of what their store is going to be like; and, large or small, a certain amount of adjustment always has to take place,” says Steve Fingerman, a New Orleans retail consultant who works with Privé. “You have to adjust your vendor mix because it’s very rare in the beginning to have that exact demographic match.”

Indeed, Privé’s owners have found the need to make adjustments to their merchandise mix. They’ve noticed that sleepwear sells much better than they originally anticipated, so they’ve had to start ordering more. To their surprise, they’ve also found the average bra cup size of their customers is bigger than in other nearby markets, so they’re ordering fewer Bs and stocking up on more Ds, DDs and even Es.

“In the beginning, you buy based on what you think everybody wants and what the reps of the lines are recommending and you assume they know what’s going on,” Savoy says. “Well, in Baton Rouge there’s a difference between what women like and need and between what they like and need in Shreveport or Dallas.”

The partners also quickly learned the importance of regularly changing their displays in the windows and on the showroom floors. Besides the fact that the store receives a lot of drive-by traffic, when customers come in they want to see the newest and latest pieces, which means constantly dressing and undressing the mannequins.

For Blumberg, another particularly big adjustment during the first few weeks was getting used to the new schedule that retail demands. Her previous job in advertising sales started early in the morning but left her evenings free. Now that she runs a boutique, her days are longer and she has to work Saturdays.

Not that she minds. Blumberg enjoys running the shop. For her part, Savoy—who also works part-time in real estate and has three young children—fills a variety of roles, though she makes a point of coming into the store every day. On balance, they divide the labor and, so far, they say it’s working out well.

“We take turns looking through the books, and we take turns putting orders together,” Blumberg says. “We’ve known each other so long and have been through so much together we really have a level of respect for each other that exceeds a normal friendship or business partnership.”

One of the biggest challenges in the first couple of months has been getting to know the customers and anticipating their needs. The partners have been pleasantly surprised by how open their customers are and how unabashed they are about asking for help in the dressing room.

“We were worried they were going to be too shy, and every once in a while someone is embarrassed,” Blumberg says. “But most of the ladies that shop with us let us help them in the dressing room, which is what we’re here for.”

As they look to the future, Blumberg and Savoy say their main goal is to pay off their bank debt as soon as possible. They have reasonable terms on the five-year, $100,000 loan, but they know they have to be debt free before they can really start making money.

“We’re really serious about that,” Savoy says. “We have projections in our business plan of how much we need to be paying off and we’re following that plan—even exceeding it.”

The partners also look forward to growing and expanding over the years, though for now they’re concentrating on a solid first year.

“Your first year is the make-or-break year, and it’s more important to know what can cripple you than what will help you succeed,” Blumberg says. “So we’re just trying to make sure we do everything by the book and have a good time in the process.”

A four-part Business Report series follows the owners of Privé as they turn the idea of a lingerie store in Towne Center into reality. To read this series from the beginning, click here.