5 Questions – Flavia Minenza, Founder @ThriftsByFlav
Pleiades Media recently assisted South Africa’s first thrift store to open in a mall, ThriftsByFlav, to assist in gaining media coverage following the launch of their store in the Mall of Africa. We caught up with owner Flavia Minenza to discuss the topic of thrifting and the impact of PR on her business.
PM: What drew you to thrifting?
@ThriftsByFlav shop in the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg
FM: I was introduced to thrifting by my university friends after I moved into res. I knew what thrifting was, I just didn’t know of the places to go thrifting locally.
PM: Which social media platform would you recommend to potential thrifters? And why?
FM: Definitely Instagram! It’s so easy to use and I’ve found my customers respond best to pictures of pieces styled on a model because is easier to visualise how to wear it and how it fits. Instagram also has wonderful business features for small businesses.
PM: Any downsides to selling off Instagram?
FM: The downside to selling on Instagram is that the ‘thrift scene’ is fairly saturated. I feel that a big reason in @Thriftsbyflav taking off on Instagram was the timing (it was before every 4th person owned a thrift store) and we stuck to selling unique pieces rather than just regular used clothing.
PM: How has being in a retail store influenced the business?
FM: Being in a retail store has definitely put us on the map. There’s a huge amount of foot traffic that we otherwise wouldn’t have had. It’s provided another opportunity for our brand to be discovered.
PM: How has the PR and media component impacted your business?
FM: The PR and media aspect has truly done wonders for us! We didn’t think that traditional PR would have much of an impact on an instagram-birthed brand, but it helped us pick up a huge amount of momentum as well as getting our story out to a large crowd of people that aren’t on social media.
