Zippers Style Exchange sees early success in Maryville

Photo by Jolanda Jansma

Buck Bailey, co-owner of Zippers Style Exchange, looks over some of the merchandise at Zippers Style Exchange.

Photo by Jolanda Jansma

Karen Nicholson browses the rack at Zippers Style Exchange in Maryville.

Since the owners of Zippers Style Exchange opened their store in Maryville on Feb. 19, they’ve changed their original plan from catering to juniors to offering more career-minded apparel for women.

In February, Alex Tucker and Buck Bailey opened Zippers Style Exchange at 2012 W. Broadway Ave., in West Maryville, and they’ve been pleased with customer response since their first day. “It was amazing. We doubled what our plans were for that day,” he said.

Tucker said their original plan was to replicate in Maryville what Planet Exchange does in Knoxville by buying and selling the latest fashions. “We’re learning our clientele is different. We had the idea this was going to be a very young customer base. While we do have the junior girls who come in, it is the 35- to 55-year-old ladies shopping everyday, and they want to trade,” he said. “We changed up our assortment and started having more career-wear. We are not all about jeans and graphic T’s. We have women’s clothing sizes 0 up to 2X, and we also have men’s clothing.”

Tucker said that initially they planned on locating in downtown. “We wanted to be close to the college and in that hip area downtown toward Tomato Head. When we looked at the traffic-flow between Foothills Mall and the new Wal-Mart in West Maryville, it was phenomenal,” he said. “We considered the traffic patterns and the number of residents out here and realized we needed to be in the suburbs rather than downtown.”

Tucker said Bailey has been instrumental in the entire process of starting the store. “I have the retail expertise, and he is a business owner and architect and helped me. It is definitely a partnership,” Tucker said.

Tucker thanked his family for helping with the grand opening. “My aunts and mother were all cooking and making cookies to give away,” he said. “I want to give a special shout out to all those ladies for their help in the grand opening.”

To learn more about Zippers Style Exchange, call 865-233-5558 or visit the store’s website at zippers411.com. and find them on Facebook.