In 2008, Diana Marsden made her dream a reality, and opened Aries Apparel, a sporting goods and apparel store just for women and girls.
Aries Apparel offers a wide range of products and brands for popular women sports like volleyball, soccer, softball, swimming, basketball, cheerleading, dance, and lacrosse.
Diana had no experience in business ownership or in retail; “I needed help and direction in operating my business as well as learning about retail,” she explains. Since starting to work with the PCC Small Business Development Centerin 2012, Diana has participated in Retail Small Business Management and Small Business Management 3, and has taken advantage of the advising resources including digital marketing advising. “The SBDC advisors have lots of real life experiences to share to help people like me. Learning how other businesses manage things successfully or not is sometimes more helpful than reading a book. So the interaction with other retailers in the classes in addition to the advisors direction is very helpful.”
Aries Apparel now has two store locations in Hillsboro and in Clackamas generating over $1 million in revenue. Despite still overcoming economic hardship from the recession, Dianna reassures, “we have come a long way, efficiency-wise, since we opened in 2008.”
