•CEO Royal Root Fabrics
The very pretty and stylish, Tejumade Adeyemo, is one young, hardworking and humble lady behind Royal Root Fabrics, a brand she started running 3 years ago but just decided to open a store to cater for clients who desire to walk into the store and do their personal shopping.
According to Teju, she has always had a thing for fashion, so going into the business was not a big deal, since she was only turning her passion into a business. She started by operating a unisex salon but due to some challenges she decided to sell fabrics, and she started by selling just male fabrics, but now, she does unisex. One unique thing about Royal Root Fabrics is the fact that their fabrics can not be found anywhere else, and everything about the store speaks luxury and class. She is also the brain behind the Pignus One Security brand. It deals in CCTV cameras, motorised gates and electric fences.
In this interview with City People’s BIODUN ALAO, she talked about her three years in the fashion business, where she gets her fabrics from, her plans for the brand in the next five years and why it is called Royal Root Fabrics. Below are the excerpts.
Can we meet the brain behind Royal Root Fabrics?
My name is Tejumade Adeyemo, the CEO of Royal Root Fabrics located at Marwa Mall, Lekki Phase 1. Royal Root Fabric is a brand that I started 3 years ago. I started initially by just selling fabrics for men. But now, I am selling for both men and women. We deal in luxury fabrics for women, laces, silk, and then ready to wear for both men and women, I just decided to get a store to encourage my online customers to come and patronise us more, so they will be able to see all we have personally.
How challenging has it been running the brand?
To be honest, it has not been easy, there are some times, the business will just be stagnant and that can really be frustrating. At times, I get so stressed and will even be considering changing the line of business, but I kept encouraging myself, believing one day, it will definitely pay off. I never gave up, I just continued doing my thing and here we are today.
Who would you say so far, are your major clients, that you concentrate on?
My major clients are men. Though not only celebrities, I have celebrities and regular people as well. For me, it is easier to sell to men, because so many men wear natives every now and then. At times, we can just see a man work into the shop and pick up 20 fabrics at a go, unlike women who most times, wait for when there’s any occasion before they buy. In all it’s been good and I give God all the glory.
How do you go about the ready to wear for men?
Okay, for men, we have samples for them to see what we can achieve with their materials, so when a male client walks in, and after buying fabrics, he wants us to make it, he settles for designs, then we take measurements and give it to the tailor to design and we give a timeline of 5 days for it be ready, that is how we operate for men. But for women, we have things on grounds like silk fabric and others, we design them in different styles and sizes, that they can just walk into a store and pick immediately.
How do you source your fabrics?
I buy my fabrics abroad, I travel to different countries to get fabrics. One thing my clients always tell me is that I have unique things, not the usual or regular fabrics you can get everywhere. I bet, you won’t see fabric here and still see it anywhere else. I travel a lot and it takes days to go around to pick unique things, I don’t rush, I take my time to pick the very best, we do strictly luxury, not the common thing you see everywhere.
You said luxury, so how affordable are your fabrics?
Very affordable, we have a different price range. We have expensive fabrics for people who can afford it, we also have the cheaper ones, for clients who want the cheaper fabrics, anyone can come shop with us, here is something for everybody irrespective of your class and taste. We have it all.
What makes your brand different from others?
Like I said earlier, we are unique believe it or not, you won’t find our fabrics elsewhere we are different. Take for example what I am wearing right now, it is from Royal Root Fabrics, and we have it in different colours. I am using this opportunity to market this and I am very confident that some people are going to pick this fabric here today.
You started 3 years ago, where do you hope the brand will be in the next 5 years?
(Laughs!!!) In the next five years from now, by the special grace of God, I hope to have different branches all over the country. By God’s grace, I want to go international and that is my goal in the next 5 years.
Where did you get the inspiration from?
I have always been into fashion, I have always had eyes for good things, so this came naturally. Right from my school days, I always standout and people are always eager to know where I got my stuff from, so I will just say, I turned my passion for fashion into a business.
I have always had an eye to pick out good things, so it was really nothing difficult, it came naturally.
Please for our customers incoming Royal Root Fabrics is for everybody, we do aso-oke as well, we do Aso-Ebi like you have to have a party and you need those special and unique fabrics for your guests or selected friends or colleagues, we are always available. We have affordable aso-oke, silk fabrics that are like 20,000 naira, 15,000 naira and so forth. We have lace fabrics that are like 30,000 naira for men. The same way, we have expensive fabrics, is the same way we have cheap and affordable ones.
It’s all about your choice and pocket, we cut across every price range for all our clients and we make sure everybody is satisfied at the end of the day.
Can you take us through your background?
My name is Teju, I have a daughter, and I have been into a business like 8 years ago. Royal Root brand started as a unisex salon, we did that for like 3 years. I had some challenges, so I decided to focus on what I enjoy which is fashion that is just it.
How did you come about the name Royal Root?
I am originally from Ibadan, Oyo State. My grandfather was a King, so I am from a royal family and that is how I came about the name Royal Root, so my root is royal.
