For seven years, the boutique of Romanian and international designers, Shopping for Happiness, owned by Ramona Pașca and her colleague, Léa, welcomes and delights tourists, the Parisian public and the community, with different, unique, handmade items and full of love
Ramona Pașca, a young woman who went to France several years ago, struck a blow with her boutique in the City of Lights. After arriving in France for the first time with an Erasmus scholarship, the Romanian fell irreparably in love with Paris and then decided that it was the most suitable place to live. She returned to France and initially took a job as a babysitter, and later got a job at a clothing store.
She worked there for five years, a period that helped her develop: she used her management knowledge, improved her communication with clients, and seven years ago she managed to open her own business. Inspired, she turned to the city center, on Rue du Pont, near Notre-Dame, where she opened a chic boutique, with handmade items from Romania. Her business grew slowly, progressively, and along the way Ramona began collaborating with several artists. But beyond the business, the young woman sees everything as a passion.
“The love and passion for what we do is felt so strongly here that the world feels like home. Most of them return this love and tell us that this place is their favorite from their vacation in Paris. There is no greater joy and validation for us!“, says Ramona for “Weekend Adevărul”.
The first obstacle: the pandemic
The pandemic meant a new challenge for the young Romanian entrepreneur. In France, as in the whole world, the pandemic has grounded countless businesses. However, Ramona passed this test with flying colours. She found the solutions to cope with the financial losses, but most of all, she carefully prepared her next steps to get things back on track and the business to thrive with the return to normal.
“Honestly, all the passion and energy I put into my “le coeur brode” collection, as well as in the boutique, didn’t necessarily make me see or feel this period of the pandemic. Yes, I stayed at home for a while, but I used this time to think of new strategies, to do production and to think and launch new items in my collection”says the young woman.
His patience and perseverance were overcome, and with the setback of the pandemic he managed to recover his business: “To my surprise, since March 2022, everything has returned to normal, maybe even better. Paris was simply invaded by tourists in the mood for shopping and with good, warm weather, only suitable for walking and shopping”.
New collections
In recent months, Ramona Pașca has started a series of new projects. And one of them is enjoying a fulminant success. “A new project and the success of which I am delighted is my collaboration with the illustrator Ildiko Szabo, the artist who creates my images for my collection of nets. Another would be the fact that I also put these images on postcards, and now I would like to print them on coffee mugs and agendas. Also, together with Ildi, we also make a collection of entirely handmade and unique toys. Together we collaborated with a hotel chain to create different images for them which will then be printed on their personal collection of pillows and accessories”says Ramona.
As for her collection of nets, Ramona says that she has discovered a loyal audience: “The idea of this collection came from my desire to see other nets on the street. Not just the classic ones full of ads and banal. I wanted something cheerful, funny, something that can change your mood and really enhance an outfit.
My collection started with three images: that of a puppy, a cat and a bunny, and now I have a collection of over twenty,” she adds.
Other products that are hugely popular with customers, especially American and Asian tourists, are the hand-embroidered heart items. “In addition to the hand-embroidered items with hearts – t-shirts, berets, sweaters and the net collection – we have also used the images to be printed on postcards, and now I want to expand the range with diaries, notebooks and ceramics”confesses the entrepreneur.
All its product categories are selling like hotcakes. Even if it didn’t turn her into a millionaire, the business gives her a chance at a decent, carefree life. “I’m happy to say that the nets work just as well as the jerseys. On the t-shirt side, we brought two new embroidered messages last summer, designed for tourists, «Bonjour» and «Je t’aime», and they worked very well“, says Ramona.
With an eye on online
If tourists represent the majority of customers, Parisians are not left out either. Ramona’s creations are also liked by the French, who can’t resist buying them. “My best customers are tourists, because our street is also very eye-catching. However, we also enjoy our loyal Parisian customers for whom the collection of nets, t-shirts and jewelry work just as well“, emphasizes the Romanian.
Because she could no longer keep up with the customers who “invade” her physical store, Ramona put online sales on the back burner. Not definitively, she says, because in the not-too-distant future, she plans to focus on them as well. “We have left online sales aside for the moment. The boutique is still active, orders come from there as well, but it’s hard for me to carry them all by myself. I would like to develop it, but before I do that, I should develop the production, and there is still work to do. Two hands just embroidering is no longer enough”, she admits.
If her own website has been relegated to the background, the Romanian still also sells online, and her creations fly across the ocean in particular. “However, the international platform of creators where I have had exposure for several years works, and the holiday season was full. “Le coeur brodé” articles fly mostly to America and now also to Germany”, says the young woman.
A continuous evolution
2022 was an exceptional year for Ramona, and two of her projects are starting to show their first results. “I wanted to test my products in different designer boutiques in France to see their reception. I tested and stopped now. This takes a lot of stock and no city can compare to Paris. The second project was to have exposure in a shopping mall. To meet the audience there and see the interaction with my universe. I had this opportunity recently, my brand was selected along with ten other creators. It was interesting and new opportunities opened up for me: a collaboration with an online boutique from South Korea and new clients”.
Her ambitions don’t stop there. For this year, she is targeting the beginning of the expansion. “I want to develop the collection with new messages, to bring new products to the collection, and I have already been proposed, even several times, to open a boutique on a B2B platform where boutiques from all over Europe can have access to my creations”.
At the end, the young woman gave a piece of advice for other Romanians who dream of taking the big step and becoming entrepreneurs. “I would tell them to always believe in themselves and their dream. There is no such thing as failure, only hard work and lessons to be learned. It takes a lot of patience. Also, future entrepreneurs would do well to know from the start that the most important thing is that the customer is satisfied. As far as I’m concerned, only then do I feel truly fulfilled. If he leaves me with a smile on his face, I gave everything”concludes Ramona Pașca.