About this episode

Madison Dowd discusses her experience of purchasing and running Ludivine, a boutique on the Upper East Side, and the dynamics of modern retail.

At 22-years-old, Madison Dowd bought Ludivine, a long-standing Upper East Side boutique, through BizBuySell.com. Instead of starting a brand from scratch, she stepped into an existing business with loyal customers, real inventory, a balance sheet, and an unwavering belief in the future of retail. This conversation gets into what it actually looks like to run a multi-brand fashion boutique today — from buying decisions and trade shows to navigating instinct versus data. We also talk about learning a customer and buying patterns, what makes the Upper East Side the most valuable retail landscape, and the brands flying off her shelves.  Timestamps: 01:30 — Buying Ludivine at 22: Why she chose to purchase instead of start from scratch 05:45 — Finding the business on BizBuySell and stepping into an existing P&L 10:00 — Learning before changing: understanding a legacy customer base 14:40 — The Upper East Side shopper: loyalty, psychology, and neighborhood dynamics 19:15 — Buying strategy: trade shows, inventory bets, and seasonal planning 23:50 — Instinct vs. data: when to trust your gut  28:00 — Social media’s role in a brick-and-mortar business 30:45 — What actually…

People in this episode

Host: Liv Perez

Guest: Madison Dowd

Topics covered

• retail
• fashion boutique
• customer loyalty
• buying strategy
• social media
• Upper East Side

Keywords

• retail playbook
• multi-brand boutique
• customer buying patterns
• trade shows
• seasonal planning
• social media impact

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ludivine, BizBuySell.com

Places: Upper East Side

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