The owner of a clothes shop in Cardiff’s prestigious Morgan Arcade has opened a branch in Cwmbran.
Naomi Vaughan, a former pupil at Croesyceiliog Comprehensive School and Llantarnam Sixth Form, is the entrepreneur who runs The Pretty Perfect Boutique.
Around five and a half years ago, she won funding from an entrepreneurial competition run by her university, Cardiff Metropolitan.
She was working at Laura May Bridal at the time and “spotted a gap in the market”. Her win also attracted the attention of an angel investor, and her first shop at 31 Morgan Arcade opened.
Cwmbran Life met her on the ground floor of her second shop – on Victoria Street in Old Cwmbran.
She said: “This shop used to be a dress shop years ago. My sisters bought their prom dresses up here.
“It’s a special occasion wear boutique. We don’t just do prom dresses, we do mother of the bride and groom, wedding guest outfits, hats, fascinators, [and] accessories.”
I asked how her first month running two shops had gone.
‘A good team in Cardiff’
She said: “I’ve got a really good team in Cardiff, and my assistant manager – she’s fantastic.
“I’m splitting my time between Cardiff and Cwmbran, and so is she. We’re open five days a week here and seven days a week in Cardiff. We’re a small team of five people. The girls that work for me are amazing.”
Her career started at Laura May Bridal in Cardiff. Naomi said: “The two ladies that own it, they are really inspiring and so supportive. Everything that I’ve learned, I’ve learned from them.”
She also thanked her angel investor saying: “Once we came out of lockdown, the business took off, and he was happy for me to buy him out. He said he just did it to help me because he thought I deserved a chance. I was very lucky.”
The shop at 7 Victoria is over three floors, with the ground floor for mother of the bride/ groom outfits, the second floor for prom dresses and a changing room, and the third floor for stock and making social media content.