We had the good fortune of connecting with Hiba Elzukimi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hiba, how do you think about risk?
Risk is a part of any business. The simple act of starting a business is a risk. Regardless of how prepared you may be, regardless of how knowledgeable and experienced you may be, you cannot predict all risk. For example, I have been in the clothing industry for seventeen years; I’ve worked in import, wholesale, and retail, in several states including, New York, New Jersey, Chicago IL and now California. I had the grand opening of my brick and mortar on Dec 14, 2019 about 3 months before an international pandemic and global economic meltdown. Now while I prepared for a year of bad business, simply because your first year of business is always difficult, neither I nor anyone else could have predicted such an immense disaster. Yet, I am glad I took this risk, because if I could get through this horrific period without any government assistance (because new companies weren’t able to secure assistance due to the requirement of showing a 25% deficit from the previous year, which isn’t possible if you only had a month’s worth of sales) than there is no way moving forwarded this business will not succeed. Still, that does not mean blindly walk in to a situation that you know nothing about and think that success is on the horizon. In normal circumstances I approach business in a very pessimistic manner. I always think of the worst case scenario as the most likely scenario and I think to myself, ok if this happens, I need to have something in place to fix the situation. That is the best way to manage anything that comes with risk.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I believe that my business reflects who I am as a human being. How my customers are treated, the products we provide and even the price points that we provide them at. I grew up in the Inland Empire, San Bernardino county is one of the most diversely populated counties in the country; with people from every background, every race, ethnicity, culture, religion, financial class, educational background and sexual orientation. I am quite proud of having been exposed to all of these incredible people growing up. That diversity is translated into our business. All people are welcome, first and foremost, that is the most important thing. In order to say that with my full chest however I have to provide products that back that up. We have the store split down the middle, one side is Slender running S-L, the other side is Curvy running 1X-3X with some styles that include 4X- 5X. People will find everything from lounge wear to wedding party and everything from completely covered to completely bare I’ve always said, weather you want to cover yourself from your head to your toes or you only want to cover your toes, you and you alone define your sexy. So our niche is that we don’t have one. We want everyone who walks through our doors to find themselves in our people and our products.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well the best place to be is definitely the Renaissance Marketplace! Am I a bit biased? Probably, because that is where our shop is located. However, it is also true! Rialto, wasn’t so developed even as close as 5 years ago. This center is brand new and the manner in which they set it up was brilliant. It’s almost rectangular shaped. On one side are all of the retail and service shops. On the other side is purely restaurants and coffee houses, at the end of the center is a gym and a beautifully built Cinemark cinema with a full restaurant and bar inside that serves while you are watching your film. You can quite literally spend an entire day there. Across the center is a new Texas Roadhouse, which if you’ve never been there, what are you doing?! We have an extraordinarily beautiful new park called Frisbie Park which includes, softball fields, little league fields, basketball courts, 2 playground areas, a skatepark and a dog park. Our city is small but packs a big punch. We are so proud of its’ continued growth and can’t wait for our lake!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Definitely! My family. My brother Mossa & Basel, my father Ghassan and my mother Hanan. With small business in general, very rarely are loans granted and when they are they usually aren’t enough to cover the total cost of the investment. Most times it takes the life saving of the individual or in many cases that of their entire family. This was definitely the case for me. My family has been there for me from the beginning and continued to support me throughout this entire pandemic. After them are my incredibly generous customers. There is no business without clientele, without people who continue to choose to spend their money in your establishment rather than the million other ones that are out there. My doors would not still be open if it were not for their support. So yes my family, my entire In Ur Closet family.

Website: inurcloset.net

Instagram: inurcloset_iuc

Linkedin: Hiba Elzukimi

Twitter: In_Ur_Closet

Facebook: inurclosetllc

Other: TikTok: inurcloset_iuc

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