Today, in the fabric business, daring merchants have taken away their businesses from markets to big malls and big stores of their own to boost sales.
Alhaja Bola Oloburo, who runs Lace & Fabric Store has done that. She has a big fabric store in New Gbagi. She recently opened a new store inside Shoprite Complex on Ring Road in Ibadan The more enterprising among them have gone ahead to open stores in more than one city. Alhaja Bola Oloburo, an Ibadan-based merchant is also in that class. She is a big time fabric seller, who is the daughter of a fabric merchant. She has gone ahead to open a store in Lagos for her daughter who showed interest in the business. She recently spoke with City People’s Assistant Society Editor, ABIOLA ORISILE. Excerpts.
You have been selling fabrics for over 30 years, how would you rate the market now and when you started?
Waoh! Fashion is not where it was back then. And because fashion has also gone beyond what it used to be, we also had to update our fashion sense too. This is in the sense that fabrics of that time were quite different from what it is now. Then, we had Wonyosi lace.
It was just a shinning fabric we wore then.
Though fashion has stepped up, but businesses were more lucrative then than now.
Why?
I think it is the economy, market is now saturated, lots of young girls no longer want to learn the rope of business. They just want to make money.
Are you saying you learnt the trade despite the fact that your mother is a fabric merchant?
Of course, I learnt it.
Why?
I learnt the business so that I would be able to sustain it. And that is why I am still in the business till date because many people started the business but they couldn’t sustain it for a long time because they didn’t learn it. If I did not learn it, I might have left the business, but my past experience is still helping me. You have to know the do’s and don’ts of the business you are doing, so that you will know how to face any challenge that comes your way.
Fabric sellers are fashionable, why is it so?
Of course, that is how it should be. As a fabric seller, you have to be fashionable because you represent your brand. You also need to have eyes for good things.
Your lace and fabric store is well known in Ibadan, what made you open another branch in Lagos?
I did that because my daughter is also interested in the business, but she doesn’t want to stay in Ibadan.
How is business in Lagos?
Oh! It is better.
What made you open another branch at Shoprite in Ibadan?
First, I needed a bigger space, I wanted something exclusive that is better than where I was before. And, of course, anybody who comes to Ibadan from different parts of the world usually visit Shoprite.
I see Shoprite as a centre of attraction.
What has sustained your business for over 25 years?
It’s God ooo. Because without God, you are nothing, hardwork, focus and being steadfast also help.
You are very religious. Does this have to do with your upbringing?
Yes, I was brought up that way.
Owing to your kind of business, you are one of the happening society women in Ibadan. Do you ever feel tired of attending parties?
Yes oo, I get tired of parties at times.
You attend a minimum of how many parties in a month?
I can’t really say because since I started the exclusive and luxury fabric business, my attendance at parties has increased compared to when I was at Gbagi market.
What has brought you this far?
God, I am nothing without God.
Talking about your beauty, how do you start your day?
Well, I don’t have any beauty routine. I am a business woman, there is no time for that.
Who is your bestfriend?
My husband is my bestfriend, we are very close.
Is it because you have been married for a long time or what?
It is God ooo, when you are married to your bestfriend and you understand each other, everything becomes easy.
It is not easy to sustain a marriage. Can you give us 5 tips for a successful marriage?
First, you have to put God first.Pray together. When a couple is prayerful, it will be easy to overcome any challenge that comes their way. A wife has to be submissive to her husband and his family. Loyalty is also very important and lastly, you have to take your husband as your confidant and you also have to be patient.
Why is it that ladies now want a ready-made guy unlike those days that our mothers believed in starting together with your husband from scratch?
That was why marriages in those days lasted longer. They already had a foundation and they would understand each other perfectly. They know everything about themselves and they will be real to each other.
