Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenette Goldstein.
Jenette, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As far back as I can remember, all I wanted to be was an actress. I was taken to the theatre by my parents and fell in love with the drama, the conflict, the action and the world it created in front of your eyes. So I went to school and trained for the profession and spent over twenty years in New York, London and Hollywood doing stage, film and tv work, never imagining that one day I would go from Show Biz to the Bra Biz.
This was early 2009, at the start of the Great Recession, and I knew as a busty woman, from the brands I had purchased Europe, that this was the one item that I would spend my hard-earned money on. I asked my husband, “Why doesn’t somebody open a store like this in Los Angeles?!” –which turned out to be a very fateful question. We wanted a beautiful (his department) bra store with a large curated selection (my department) of beautiful, well-made items sold by knowledgeable and honest people.
At a time when much of America thought there were no cup sizes above ‘D’, we decided, against advice, to sell none lower than that. We wanted to be the essential store for part of the market, rather than just another store for the whole market. To promote the shop, we drafted ‘The Manifesto’ and passed it around town. We thought of ourselves as fomenting a rebellion against a mass-market lingerie industry that was deliberately misleading women about their bra size. Word spread amongst the overdeveloped and underserved, and soon our little store on a run-down street in Los Angeles was featured in a full-page article in the Wall Street Journal. We soon opened a second LA location, then two more, and finally on March 8, 2020 we opened Jenette Bras Atlanta!
A family connection lies beneath this long jump from California. Though I’m an LA native, my mother and large extended family are from Atlanta. Many summers were spent at my grandparents’ house in Virginia Highlands, running the neighborhood with a gaggle of cousins, and visiting my uncle on the floor at Rich’s Department Store—so it feels quite a bit like coming home.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We’re in the biggest struggle of our business lives right now, like so many other businesses. The COVID pandemic struck just as we completed a two-year push to open two additional stores. We were leveraged to the hilt (we do a pretty fancy build-out) and our bank account was scraping bottom. Store number four, in Burbank, had been open three weeks. Our Decatur store was open ONE week. We laid off employees, cut hours, applied for every kind of grant, loan, or government aid you can imagine.
We’ve broken our old business model (practically a credo) of No Online Sales and developed a method of Remote Fitting. \We don’t call it “virtual” fitting because it’s not virtual, it’s a real fitting with a real fitter. She’s just not in the same room with you. It’s accessed by appointment through https://jenettebras.as.me.
We re-opened all five stores on June 1st and were able to hire back 75% of our team. With no existing client base, the Atlanta store seemed like it was at the greatest risk, but I’m happy to say that adventurous ATL gals are finding us and trying us out.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Jenette Bras – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My team and I go to Paris and New York every year to select the best options in lingerie, sports bras, and swimwear for the full-busted woman. Our one-on-one service is like a high-end bridal shop and all my fitters go through a rigorous training program. However, it’s our warmth, sense of humor, and no-nonsense attitude which sets us apart. Providing beautiful options within the sphere of comfort and quality is just the start of what Jenette Bras offers. Women seek connection. So many rites of passage, from prom to pregnancy, are helped by a good bra and a kind ear. Your breasts need support, but so do you! A bra-fitter’s job is to listen to you, joke with you, talk to you straight, or talk you off the ledge, depending. You gotta play the boobs you’re dealt. You accept them, you support them, you decorate them!
Just don’t expect to see any measuring tape! It doesn’t produce enough data. Our fitters are trained to fit by the eye, so maintaining social distance has not been a problem. We’ve kept the same standards of service, proper fit, and client satisfaction (less the parting hug) with only a little modification–clients have to adjust their own straps now. We aren’t a ‘browsing store,’ so we’ve never been very crowded. Shop from home with the personal assistance of a Jenette Bras fitter and have access to all the inventory across our five stores!
The prices will be higher than online, because of the service and quality of our brands, and in contrast to the practice of many department stores which set a low base pay and pit their salespeople against each other (and against the customer) in a struggle for commissions, we choose instead to fund higher pay rates and health benefits for our staff.
I’m very proud to say that we donate 100% of the net profits from every strapless bra sale to enable us to support girls in foster care through our non-profit, www.hourglassunderground.org.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My mission has always been to bring back the neighborhood bra shop corner by corner. It’s an integral part of a healthy community. We’re like a temple, church, or mosque, and our sacrament is women talking to women about their bodies and their lives.
Before COVID 19, we were looking to solidify our base in Atlanta and continue our expansion in the South. At this moment, I will be satisfied with spreading the word to all women that supporting your body is worth paying good money. It is not a splurge, it’s foundational. Bra fitting is feminism in its most intimate form.
Contact Info:
- Address: 307-A East College Ave. Decatur, GA 30030
Monday-Sunday 10-5
Free parking in back - Website: www.jenettebras.com
- Phone: 404-377-9006
- Email: atlanta@jenettebras.com
- Instagram: @jenettebras_atl
- Facebook: facebook.com/jenettebras
- Twitter: @jenettebras
- Other: for appointments: https://jenettebras.as.me/atlanta
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