An established designer fashion resale business moved into The Business Village in Barnsley – at the height of the pandemic – after sales success saw the former call centre worker turned entrepreneur Charlotte Jones and her business Love Luxe outgrow her home workspace.
Entrepreneur Charlotte Jones set up Love Luxe three years ago after turning her passion for Louboutin shoes into a successful online business that specialises in buying and selling unworn and unwanted shoes at a fraction of the retail price.
The idea for the company came after she wore the heels off a pair that her husband had bought her and realised they were so battered she needed a new pair.
But Charlotte didn’t want to pay the substantial price tag and was worried getting them from eBay would mean ending up with fakes.
“It all started as hobby really,” she said. “I saw a pair of Louboutin shoes on eBay going cheap, bought them and then put them back up for sale myself and made £100 profit instantly.
“I started looking through the internet and bought a few more pairs and sold them for profit. I realised at this point that there was a market out there for buying and selling luxury goods.
“I was making more money from it than I was from my job so I gave up working in the call centre and designed a proper website so that I could put more effort into it.”
Love Luxe is a resale site, meaning private sellers contact and offer Charlotte unwanted and often unworn products which she then purchases and sells on for a profit. The brand also sells clothing, bags, sunglasses, and other accessories from renowned designers including Chanel, Gucci, Burberry and Alexander McQueen.
Her passion is Louboutin shoes, and Charlotte taught herself how to spot an authentic pair from a fake. For other items she uses a piece of software called Entrupy, which uses artificial intelligence to analyse and identify authenticity.
Charlotte moved into the new building at The Business Village’s Wilthorpe site in January this year – at the height of the pandemic – having outgrown her office space at home.
She added: “I have customers who want to come and try items on and buy from me in person, which is not really practical when you’re at home.
Kevin Steel, business development manager at The Business Village, added: “The exciting growth demonstrated by Charlotte in this innovative online retail sector brings a whole new dimension to what’s going on in Barnsley. With the opening of our newest building, we’ve seen how business is really bouncing back in the town, especially here!
“We’ve already seen ten existing tenant expansions, creating more than 20 new jobs in a variety of sectors, and welcomed nine businesses who have relocated from elsewhere in the borough and seen three out-of-area companies joining us, with up to 20 new workers, again across various industries.”
Check out Charlotte’s business: www.loveluxe.co.uk
Find out more about
The Business Village:
www.barnsleybic.co.uk or contact business development manager
Kevin Steel on 01226 249590 or 07970 930560 and
www.barnsleybic.co.uk/staff/kevin-steel
