Emily Ponath, owner of Rack + Clutch boutique, stands in front of her truck. After a few logistical hurdles from the City of St. Louis, Ponath opened shop in spring 2013.
Move over, food trucks—a new innovation is rolling into town. St. Louis recently joined the likes of New York City and Los Angeles in welcoming its first fashion truck, Rack + Clutch, proving that fashion and shopping are changing gears.
Rack + Clutch owner and operator Emily Ponath describes the fashion truck as “the food truck of clothes” and “a UPS that’s pink and has a real, tiny boutique inside.”
Ponath, a Farmington, Mo., native and a University of Missouri graduate, was working at a boutique in the Central West End when the tough economy forced the boutique to shut down the women’s section of the store she had helped build and run.
“It really felt like they were closing my store,” Ponath said.
She didn’t want to work in the corporate world, so Ponath began thinking about creating her own business out of her passion for fashion.
“I never wanted to own my own business because I’ve watched business owners struggle, but I felt like I had a vision,” Ponath said.
She toured spaces around St. Louis but found herself unsatisfied with the foot traffic. Meanwhile, as she flipped through magazines and watched “The Today Show,” she learned about a new trend in shopping: fashion trucks.
“I knew it would be a novelty here, and I knew people loved the food trucks. I felt like people would really latch on to the idea,” Ponath said. “New York and L.A. always get the cool, crazy stuff. We want that stuff in St. Louis because we never get it first.”
Jewelry is just one of the items that can be found in the Rack + Clutch boutique.
Ponath decided to take a risk and introduce a fashion truck to St. Louis, but this decision came with much apprehension and planning. Although she felt confident she would gain customers and find merchandise, her nerves kicked in as she ventured into a business no one in St. Louis had tried before.
“I had a lot of anxiety about finding enough places to go because I was scared people would kick me out and say, ‘You can’t park here,’ but I was confident about the customers and buying the merchandise because I’ve had experience with that from my previous jobs,” Ponath said.
As she began the process of starting up a fashion truck, Ponath ran into various roadblocks. Although aware that some areas like Clayton do not allow food trucks and thus would not allow a fashion truck, Ponath was still surprised when the City of St. Louis resisted her efforts.
“I have been fighting the City of St. Louis because they allow food trucks but not the fashion truck. It’s been a horrible process,” Ponath said.
Despite the setbacks, Ponath persevered, soon receiving a warm welcome from the general population.
“Most businesses at first are skeptical to let me park by them, but after they see their customers loving the truck, they end up inviting me back,” Ponath said.
Inside the truck, customers will find what Ponath describes as a “grown-up Forever 21” and a “Nordstrom but with a lower price point.” Almost everything is priced below $50, aside from a few coats and bags. Ponath’s favorite item in the boutique is handmade jewelry because she tries to find artists outside of St. Louis with whom customers aren’t familiar yet.
She anticipates that this spring, the truck will be filled with trends she has seen gaining popularity such as crop tops, flat shoes, Aztec and geometric prints, patterned pants, and “fun, frilly” shorts.
As the sole owner and operator of Rack + Clutch, she is also responsible for repairing and cleaning the truck.
“I helped physically build the truck. I lay under the truck when something’s wrong with it. I’m the mover, the maintenance person, the custodian and the buyer,” Ponath said. “I have the jobs I don’t want but also jobs I love to do. My hair smells like gas, but I love working with my customers…I want to give my customers a personal experience when they’re shopping.”
Freshman Katie Elliott, a business marketing major and fashion design minor, sees the “personal experience” Ponath refers to as the standout characteristic that will separate fashion trucks from regular boutiques.
The boutique, founded in April 2013, carries a hand-picked selection of vintage and modern women’s clothing and accessories.
“Fashion truck companies seem to differentiate themselves by advertising and valuing the shopping experience as much as, or more than, the actual merchandise,” Elliott said. “If a customer knows what she wants and wants it now, she will go to a larger store that she is familiar with, where she can be sure to find it. Fashion trucks, on the other hand, avoid competition from these stores by targeting the customer who wants a new and memorable shopping experience.”
Ponath insists the inside of the truck is so much fun, it might one day be a reality show. She has interviewed with various networks, and although she is hopeful that a reality show is in her future, she knows another fashion truck owner who has been interviewed for a show 33 times but has yet to sign a deal.
On April 30, Ponath will celebrate the first anniversary of Rack + Clutch’s grand opening. Looking forward to another year of fashion on wheels, Ponath hopes that this year, she will have a place to go every day. To keep customers updated on where the fashion truck will be stopping, Ponath posts on the Rack + Clutch Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and keeps a full calendar on rackandclutch.com. Although she cannot park the truck in Clayton, Ponath’s close stops to campus include the School of Medicine and Saint Louis University’s library.
“If this trend really takes off, I think a college campus would more or less be a gold mine to businesses like Rack + Clutch,” Elliott said. “I’m always inspired by people who come up with new and creative businesses like this…possibilities like this are one of the reasons I want to combine knowledge of the business world with my love for fashion.”
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