Tit Fer Tat, the hat shop which started on a market stall

Mary Spiteri, 43, says she set up her hat business, Tit Fer Tat, ‘by accident’. When she was younger she wanted to be an actress, but at 17 she got a job selling Trillby hats on a market stall in Greenwich to earn some money. Now she runs her own hat shop, Tit Fer Tat, in Richmond, Surrey, which sells decorative feather-trimmed hats for around £400 each, and has a turnover of almost £100,000 per annum.

Mary, of Maltese and English parentage, opened her first shop in Putney in the 1980′s after gaining her apprenticeship in various London markets. She founded Tit Fer Tat 12 years ago, specialising in high quality hats and complimentary accessories including bags, jewellery and shoes. In 2007, Tit Fer Tat won a local business award for Best Local Business.

Mary said: ‘I never had a business plan. I didn’t wake up thinking “I want to be a hat designer”. I moved from Greenwich market to a Putney shopping centre, where I paid £100 a week for a pull-up shop. The centre manager liked what I did with my displays and offered me the front shop for £12,000 per annum, and although it was a huge expense for me, I went along with it’.

Mary’s own range of hand-made Tit Fer Tat hats was not planned either. She said: ‘The lady who makes my Tit Fer Tat hat range walked into my shop in Putney one day and asked if I needed any help. Now she is my only milliner and I buy the rest of my hats from top designers in France, Germany and Italy.’

Mary believes her success is down to reinventing her business. She said: ‘When I moved to Richmond in 1998 I had to move away from a “pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap” ethic. Most of my customers are now mothers of brides, tourists and wealthy women buying hats for events such as Ascot. They want more expensive, higher quality hats.’

She admits it has not been easy, and says: ‘It has been a challenge, but it is getting better every year and I always have new ideas.’

Nervous about the recession, Mary decided to start organising hat parties in her store and in customer’s homes. She said: ‘People do not want to drag their entire outfits to the shop to make sure they match the hats. It is also fun to try on hats with drinks, food and music.’

For more information, go to www.maryspiteri.tv.

Tags: entrepreneur, hats, Mary Spiteri, small business, sme, start-up, Tit Fer Tat

Posted by Vicki Owen on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 5:26 pm.

Filed under Business Icons, Careers, News, SMEs, Starting a Business, Tagged as: , entrepreneur, hats, Mary Spiteri, small business, sme, start-up, Tit Fer Tat.