CLOTHES MINDED

Valley couple has a bright future in store

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

Willis and Hadiyah Smith started a women’s clothing business in 2007, limiting their sales operation to small home parties rather than opening their own storeroom.

The Warren couple say that what they are learning at National College’s Belmont Avenue campus in Liberty will lead them into expanding their business, including the opening of a store on Madison Avenue in Campbell.

“It will be a lot easier when we get our store open,” Willis said, adding that could happen in early 2010.

They call their business “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” opting for that name after considering numerous other possibilities. They offer casual and dressy women’s and girls’ clothing as well as school uniforms. They buy the clothing from California, New York and New Jersey.

They do have fliers advertising their home parties, but a lot of their business comes by word of mouth, Hadiyah said.

Willis said he was looking into renting store space, but the couple decided they needed to learn more about the world of business before taking that step.

They want to be aware of all facets of running a business before they open a store, Hadiyah said.

“We’re just taking it one step at a time,” she said.

The couple met when both were students at Trumbull Business College several years ago. Hadiyah earned an associate degree in business there, but Willis dropped out of the program.

He decided to enroll at National College when the local campus opened in 2007 and earned a diploma in a one-year business-management program.

He said he realized he had a lot more to learn about running a business and so enrolled in the business-management associate-degree program, which he recently completed.

He’s not stopping there and will enroll in an accounting program at National College next term and then plans to pursue a bachelor’s in business administration. He’ll have to do that elsewhere, he said, as National College doesn’t offer the program here.

“I’m getting as much as I can from this campus,” Willis said, noting that he’s also taken practical law, typing and computer classes that will come in handy in the family business.

Hadiyah is doing the same.

She is taking accounting at National College now and plans to enroll in a computer-technology associate-degree program on campus.

Both say they like the atmosphere at National College.

“It’s a friendly environment,” Willis said, adding that students are able to get a lot of one-on-one assistance from their instructors.

He has prepared a business plan for “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and plans to take it to the Youngstown Incubator for some fine-tuning. If personnel at the incubator find it worthwhile, they will help present it to a lender, he said.

Willis, 26, said he grew up in the projects in Youngstown and has a strong desire to be successful. He’s worked in the food-service and janitorial fields but said he’s always had an interest in business.

Hadiyah, 32, who grew up in Warren, has worked in home- health care and customer-service jobs. The couple have five children ranging in age from 1 to 13.

They decided to try their hand at running their own business and settled on women’s clothing because “people are always looking for clothes,” Hadiyah said.

“I wanted to do something right,” Willis said, explaining that he got into trouble with the law and spent time incarcerated for selling drugs.

But he was able to earn his high school diploma during that time and vowed to turn things around.

“I didn’t want to make the same choices that I did before,” he said, explaining his interest in learning all he can about running a business.

Spending so much time in schools has hampered the home-party operations somewhat, but “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” can be scheduled, Hadiyah said.

For information, call (330) 553-5825.

gwin@vindy.com