ADVOCATING FOR CASUAL FASHION

Naperville accounting firm helps new Wheaton shop benefit from a sharp eye for style, a smart ear for good advice.

(NAPERVILLE IL, April 17, 2009) Cruise down West Wesley Street in charming, chain-store-free downtown Wheaton IL, and amid the scintillating mix of off-beat shops and restaurants, a sunshiny sign will catch your eye: Jeans and a Cute Top Shop. The business the sign is attached to is just six weeks old – the shop opened on March 2nd, 2009—but it traces its name back twenty years, to the owner’s first date with her now husband. It traces its mission back to Jill Card’s discovery when she started her third career that she loved retailing. And it traces its sound business footing to the advice and support it has received through its relationship with Advocate Accounting & Business Services of Naperville

Jeans and a Cute Top Shop was an easy early choice for Jill to make when she was in the early dreaming stages for her new boutique. Having put a career in the private club industry behind her to raise her two boys, she started a new career when the younger son started school, selling clothes for Ann Taylor. Advancing quickly to assistant manager, she discovered her affinity for the fashion business – enough to commit herself to creating the kind of warm, friendly shopping environment she always looked for when she was outfitting herself.

It was last October when a letter hit Jill’s desk from the Naperville-based Advocate. The letter is one which Lynda Sherman at Advocate sends to all newly registered businesses in its general geographic area, and it opened Jill’s eyes to the recognition that there would be more to opening a shop than finding a location and selecting inventory. Jill gave Lynda a call, and Jim and Lynda Sherman then took her by the hand, and led her through the thicket of the infrastructure needed to get a new business off the ground. Jill thanks Advocate for starting her off with a step-by-step outline and schedule of what would need to be done, and then helping make it happen, from setting up systems, not just selecting, but also purchasing and installing hardware and software, organizing POS, inventory systems, payroll, providing training in QuickBooks, guiding the incorporation process – all the while freeing Jill’s time so she could decorate the shop in her favorite sunshine colors, and bring in a wide array of completely wearable clothes that exude high fashion and trendy comfort without causing sticker shock.

Now that the shop is up and running, Jill describes Advocate as their security blanket, providing administrative support as well as financial guidance. And what about the twenty-year old name, Jeans and a Cute Top Shop? When Jill asked Richard what she should wear on their first date, he offhandedly replied, “Nothing fancy – just jeans and a cute top.” The rest is history.

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