E-lace and cyber-silk

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For two decades it’s been known as a go-to place to find high-end lingerie in the Baltimore area; now Bare Necessities LTD is taking its silk and lace online.

Sisters and co-owners of Bare Necessities LTD, Lynn Fram and Mindi Leikin, hold some Valentine’s Day lingerie in their Greenspring Station store. They now offer their products and services on a new Web site. Photo by Max Franz

“We figured it was time to do this; it’s an extension of our business,” said Lynn Fram, who owns the store at Greenspring Station in Baltimore County with her sister, Mindi Leikin. “Mindi and I each have daughters and we thought that in the future, maybe this is something they would like to do.”The timing of the official launch of the Web site was coordinated with Valentine’s Day, she said. The site actually went live last month.“It’s a very busy time for us, so it seems like a good opportunity to leverage our brand to a national audience,” she said. “And, business is great right now.”More than 40 orders have been placed online since the launch of the site, Fram said. “We have had orders from as far away as Alaska, some from California, New Mexico, Vermont … and we have not had any Maryland residents order online.”The biggest challenge of adding the online component is keeping the same level of customer service, she said. To stay connected with customers, Fram tries to call or e-mail each patron when the purchase is shipped, and she includes a hand-written note in each package. “I know this will be more difficult if the online business grows, but I will still e-mail each customer,” she said. Customer service was critical to the owners, said Will Davis, vice president and director of operations for Baltimore’s Eisner Interactive, which designed the Web site. “They respond personally to each request made online. This is something a lot of other sites do not offer.”The site also offers a “men’s shopping assistant,” for men who do not know how to shop for lingerie, Davis said. It lists some suggestions and pointers for buying lingerie, he said. “The tips make it a lot easier to buy the right thing.” Davis doesn’t worry about finding a place for Bare Necessities in a market segment dominated by mass-market retailer Victoria’s Secret. He said his client offers brands to women who may not want to shop at the chain store, and carves a niche with customized service.Small businesses catering to niche markets have a good chance of being successful online, said Elias Darraj, chief technology officer for Pikesville-based E-Global Interactive, which provides Web design and online services.The biggest challenge is learning how to properly market the site, he said. This can be done by search engine placement, advertising in newspapers and placing the Web site on business cards, he said. “The word gets passed around quickly if you are effective in marketing,” he said. “Typically specialty stores with products that larger stores don’t carry can be very successful online,” Darraj said. “The potential is really phenomenal.”