ONE’S love for things could create wonders.
For Mabel Paredes, her love for accessories turned into a business, now running for more than three years.
Called Trappings Collection and Creations, the business features “affordable” earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and rings of vintage and earthy colors.
Some of them were bought from local shops and Thailand stores and reassembled to create an original effect.
Paredes designed some of the inventory and contracted a Cebu-based group to create them.
After selling personally reassembled accessories to friends and acquaintances working in a call center company in Lahug, Cebu City, Paredes decided to open her first Trappings cart outlet in J.Y. Square Mall in 2007 with around P150,000 as investment to cater to a wider market.
She also engaged in a consignment deal with The Maze in Ayala Center Cebu.
On the side, Paredes exhibits in bazaars, the latest of which was the Christmas Bazaar in Asiatown IT Park. Trappings will be participating in another bazaar to celebrate the Sinulog from Jan. 11 to Jan. 25, also at Asiatown.
Her bestselling accessories are earrings, a pair of which costs P50 to P100. Prices of her necklaces range from P250 to P500, while prices of her bracelets range from P250 to P300.
“I wanted that everyone, including students, professionals and mothers, could buy affordable accessories that already look expensive,” she told Sun.Star Cebu.
Trappings’ peak season is the holiday season, especially December, when it could sell P100,000 worth of accessories.
Paredes admitted that the accessories business has a lot of competitors, but she ensures that her designs are innovative.
“I do a lot of research. Before the Christmas season when there are a lot of parties, I research on the party themes of companies and I design my accessories to suit their attires. Now that Sinulog is coming, I am making tribal designs,” she said.
She has also created a base of local customers who send her designs to be produced or inquire on her available accessories.
Three days ago, Trappings temporarily stopped operations in J.Y. Square Mall as Paredes is on the lookout for another place where she can tap more clients.
Paredes, also the proprietor of Plethora Dial-A-Spa, employs three people to take different shifts for Trappings.
Her dream is to have a factory where production of accessories can easily be monitored.