There is no right way to start a small business, especially during a pandemic. But the Macri sisters believe they have figured it out.
Gabrielle and Sabrina Macri, who grew up in Plainview, have been running a startup business, Sarella. As the pandemic began, the two launched an online boutique meant to help women save money on fashionable clothing. Like so many families, stay-at-home orders gave them some time to plan out how to successfully launch a business.
“We were getting everything together and had a goal to launch in March, but everything kept getting pushed back because we couldn’t even receive deliveries with our inventory,” Gabrielle said.
By June, though, they were up and running. And during the pandemic, they have utilized social media to grow their business with the help of influencers, who show off their affordable clothing.
Everything from Sarella is $100 or less. They believe it can help people, especially with so many people out of a job but needing clothes to impress potential employers.
“My sister and I have always loved fashion and clothes,” Gabrielle said. “We said, ‘What can we do together that can help other girls? How can we inspire other girls with fashion?’ ”
Originally, they were going to open a store about a year ago. But the decision to go online gave them more time and is less expensive to get started.
Once Sarella gained relationships with wholesale businesses, the business kicked off from there.
“Our products are curated specifically by us, and we handpick the items,” she said. “It’s a curated collection of both of our personalities and what we want to share with other women.”
But where did the name Sarella come from?
Well, their Italian heritage had a little something to do with it. Sorella, which is Italian for sisters, almost became the name of the boutique. But they wanted a personal touch, so they combined their names and changed it up a bit.
“We were obsessed with it from the minute we thought of it,” Macri said.
As the business continues to grow, the sisters believe there is no limit. The idea of making affordable clothing available for a wider community could eventually lead them to expanding to a shop at some point.
“We would love to have a store,” Gabrielle said. “That’s our end goal. We’d also like to start designing our own clothes in the future. One of our main goals is to design our own styles.”
Visit @shopsarella on Instagram to learn more about this online boutique.
