Get the latest fashion at Papaya

Fashion is something we deal with everyday. Even people who say they don’t care what they wear have to face their wardrobe every morning and choose clothes that say a lot about who they are and how they feel that day.

With Papaya Clothing offering over 10,000 different fashion styles and colors, women on island have nothing to worry about. They can keep up with the fast changing trends and still maintain their own individual style.

“Whenever there’s a new trend in the market, we get only three items for each size—3 small, 3 medium, and 3 large. And when they get sold out, that’s it. We don’t bring the same style twice,” said Papaya general manager Alex Youn. “This is such a small island; we don’t want any of our shoppers showing up at work wearing the exact same style as their co-workers. That can be embarrassing.”

Youn added that Papaya does not carry men’s or children’s clothing, so it could utilize all 3,000 square feet of space it has in its Garapan store just for women’s selection.

Although relatively new in the CNMI, Papaya has 70 stores worldwide and is very popular in the United States, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The company opened its Saipan store on Aug. 15, 2003, and has been rapidly increasing its influence on its core customer group.

Papaya has fast become one of the leading specialty retailers of fashionable apparel, accessories and footwear for women. Plus sizes and maternity clothes are also available at the store.

One of the major reasons for Papaya’s popularity, Youn noted, is its ability to provide local customers the latest fashion trends as soon as it hits the market.

“It’s not true that women here on Saipan are out-of-touch when it comes to fashion. Like women on the mainland, they are constantly being bombarded with new fashion ideas from television, movies, videos, and magazines,” Youn said. “While other shops take months to bring the latest styles on island, we do it within just two to three weeks.”

Papaya’s edge comes as a result of having a Los Angeles-based headquarters, which purchases big volumes of new clothes for distribution to its branches every week.

“We can afford to replenish our stock frequently because we don’t buy merchandise in large quantities. We don’t have to wait for the old stock to run out before we can introduce new items. There is always something new in the store,” Youn said.

He added, “Another reason we get new items so quickly is we air-freight them over. We know that it would take too long if we were to ship the clothes by boat. By the time they get here, the fashion would already be gone and they would not be saleable anymore.”

Further, shopping at Papaya does not hurt the wallet of customers.

“Most shops already have ‘back-to’school’ sales by now. But we don’t, because we are on sale all throughout the year. Our prices are already low, so you don’t have to wait for a sale to be able to afford our items,” Youn said. (Agnes E. Donato)