We spoke with Phoebe Dennis of La Di Da on Main Street in Moorestown. La Di Da specializes in clothing, accessories, jewelry, and gifts for every occasion.
La Di Da has been in Moorestown for a long time now. How and when did you get your start?
One of my first jobs included styling accessories for photo shoots for department store catalogues. With my many contacts in New York, I was able to buy beautiful and unusual things for Moorestown.
I started in 1995 with a tiny store on Chester Avenue and then moved to Main Street in 2001 and then to my current location in 2007.
Do you have advice for someone looking for a great gift in your store? What would you recommend?
Since I know a lot of my customers, when someone comes in to buy a gift, I generally know just the right thing to recommend. Even when I don’t know who the recipient is, I do know the right questions to ask so that I can narrow down what I think will be the right thing to suggest and the feedback I get is that I am usually right on target. I think a lot has to do with intuition.
When is your busiest shopping season?
Starting in the end of September and then into the Christmas season is busiest. Because our product lines are so diverse, our customers know they can find what they are looking for all year round.
How do you decide what to put on your shelves? What is that process like?
There is a lot of thought and having a sense of what to bring in and when. It involves a lot of hard work attending trade shows and visiting showrooms to always figure out what people will want.
For example, we were one of the first vendors to have Alex and Ani on the east coast, stocking it way before it became popular. I recognized the need for inspirational products very early on. I chose it from my customers’ viewpoint of a new boho look at a reasonable price, meshing with my own personal interest in yoga, spirituality and the concept of giving back whenever possible with my product lines.
What is your favorite part about being located in downtown Moorestown? Do you feel that there is a strong sense of community? A strong drive to shop local?
Moorestown is such a beautiful town, and I wish more residents took advantage of the concept of a shopping street. Many of our customers do come from Moorestown and from neighboring towns as we have become a destination for having well curated clothing, accessories, jewelry and gift wear. We also carry baby gifts and spa products. There is always something new and unexpected.
Phoebe is planning some trunk shows and ladies nights in the fall highlighting some of her newest lines. Be on the lookout for those!