For some Jamaicans, shopping locally can be a drag. If you’re not interested in trendy fashion offerings, finding quality and affordable alternatives may be next to impossible or plain underwhelming in scope and variety. I’ve noticed a slow but much appreciated move by Jamaican boutique owners to offering a wider variety of clothing and taking tiny baby steps away from selling just whatever happens to be trendy right now. Luckily for the men among us though, Shelly-Ann Wynter and husband Kirk Wynter are taking leaps with their new menswear boutique, Zela Pang Open Closet, which caters exclusively to the fashion forward man. After visiting the store during its second week of opening and falling in love with the chic décor and clothing, I returned the following week for a sit down with retail entrepreneur, Shelly-Ann Wynter.
Who are the store founders? 
Shelly-Ann Wynter, Kirk Wynter; that’s me and my husband.
How did you guys meet?
Well it’s been so long–we were friends before, and then we became lovers.
How long have you been married?
5 years now.
And you’ve been in business for how long together?
4 years. But he was in sales before. He worked in wholesale selling–but we didn’t have a store yet. He was back and forth, travelling, selling from his vehicle etc. until we came together and opened the store.
You have a store in Downtown Kingston, how does that store differ from this one?
It differs a lot because the stuff down there is different from up here. We sell different brands, because clients uptown prefer different brands in terms of quality. However, the store Downtown is really nice as well.
Do you sell female clothing there?
No. Only handbags.
What inspired/encouraged you to get into retail?
Because of a lot of wholesale business…I noticed that there weren’t really any retail stores for men selling nice clothes. So we decided that we were going to do that–we were going to do something different from everybody else. So that’s what really encouraged me.
I think that [sales] are not so [rapid] as in wholesale selling. When you sell wholesale, the items move faster but the profit is smaller. When you sell retail it is kind of slower, but it’s a better profit.
Why men’s clothing?
Right now, I feel like men have a different take on fashion than women. These days, when you see a nice top, it’s really a men’s shirt. Designers are really putting out a lot of really well designed men’s clothing.
True, male inspired female clothing is actually a current fashion trend.
Right, so with all of that I really see fashion being taken over by men.
So the store was only just opened on July 13, roughly 2 weeks ago–who has your main customers been so far?
We have working class people, and people who party a lot coming here. We have a lot of really classy people coming here to shop. There’s a barber shop upstairs, and it attracts a lot of classy people–it’s really different from Downtown because some of the people who come here, would never go Downtown–you know some people are a bit funny–but it’s people who love fashion, and different, quality clothes. I really like the feedback from the people so far, it’s been very good.
Speaking of classy people being attracted to the store–I love the store’s décor, who designed it?
My husband. My husband did all of that. He envisioned all of this–he’s really good at that. And it’s not really finished either, because we have plans…we want a little VIP area and all of that.
Do you see yourselves expanding Uptown, perhaps opening at another location?
No, not any time soon. If anything we’ll be expanding to another parish.
Right now the store definitely carries a specific style of clothing, for someone reading this article, who has not yet been to your store, could you describe that look?
Well, I’m not sure what to say about the look. Our stock is very seasonal. So right now we’re going with T-shirts and shorts, and we have dressy shirts, but it’s still a shirt you can dress down. You’re gonna see–because I know you’re going to come back here–you’re going to see come Christmas how “we can go hard” with fashion. Because my husband, he really knows how to buy nice clothes–he has the eye for that.
He really does. What kind of man are you targeting? Are you really targeting the party goers or just any man who likes nice clothes?
Well, both. I’m targeting everyone, from party goers to working class, to people who don’t go out but still like nice clothes, because you know some people buy really nice clothes and wear it casually, so I’m targeting everyone.
The store is really alternative–instead of a radio with speakers you have a flat screen TV playing music videos–so not only is the clothing really different, the décor is out of the box too. Are you worried that others will follow this trend and open similar retail businesses?
No, I’m not really worried about that because maybe what we can bring to the table, a lot of people can’t. A lot of people try stuff, but it’s only the strong that will survive and only those who have an eye for fashion and know what to put together…someone may say they can dress well but what they put on, you might not like it, and someone else comes and puts together a simple top and bottom and you say wow–yea! So I’m not really worried about people.
Downtown where we are, we really get a good response from the people. And that’s what really motivated us to come Uptown, because we saw what we could do–what we were capable of doing. So that’s what motivates us, and we have a wide customer base that’s constantly growing. Even though we’ve just expanded to Uptown, everyday somebody different pushes the door and the word is spreading, even though we haven’t done any advertisements, the word is really spreading. People will come here and say that they heard about a new store that opened, selling proper stuff and they’ll like it–so that’s what’s really happening right now.
The other day my brother and I came, another guy was entering the store before us and he was on his phone telling someone that he found this store and he really likes it and they should come down, so that’s really true.
Yea, that’s the word of mouth spreading.
What, if anything, would you say to encourage young entrepreneurs interested in retail?
If they’re coming in it just for money, or just to get rich, don’t do it. But if they are coming in it with the love of fashion and dealing with people, and knowing that when the time is good, it’s good, and when it’s bad, it’s bad–because you know the clothing business is seasonal and people aren’t going to buy clothes everyday–so if you have the expectation of people buying clothes everyday then don’t do it. But if you really have a love for fashion and this is what you really want to do as a small business owner go ahead and do it. It’s a really good business to get into.
You think that in Jamaica, it’s a profitable business?
Yea! Once you have nice clothes and you’re bringing something different to the table and not selling what everyone else is…as I said before you have to have an eye for fashion, you have to have that. You have to be able to put yourself together, because that will be reflected in your business. Because if you can’t dress or carry yourself well, I don’t think you’ll go out and buy a proper suit. So I’d encourage them, it’s a good business.
What are your store hours and why should men visit your store?
Store hours are 10am-7:30PM, and on weekends 10AM-9/8:30PM. Men should come to this store because we’re affordable, we have quality clothes and it’s different from everybody else. So if you’re looking for quality at an affordable price, and for something that you won’t see everyone else in, you should come to Zela Pang Open Closet, because the difference is class.
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Zela Pang… is a full service menswear boutique offering everything from caps and blazers to pants, t-shirts and shoes. Visit them at 10A Central Plaza, Constant Spring Road, Kingston (that is right on the corner near Joseph’s Department Store), or call them at 876-364-6374.
