Your description is pretty brief and vague, so my suggestions will be generic in nature. I’m assuming that you are doing B to C retails instead of B to B wholesaling. There are a couple of things you need to check:

1. Is your prices really attractive IN COMPARISON to what is available out there / what your competitor is offering?

2. Which segment of the market is your garments aimed at? If you’re targeting the lower end (with lower quality products), even if you lower your prices compared to your competitors, it might not make a huge impact in sales. But if your products are of high quality and are aimed at the higher-end market, then by offering lower prices than usual, you will attract good loyal clients who will help spread the word.

3. If your products are of high quality and target the higher-end market, but you still don’t get enough crowds, then it’s probably because you don’t market yourself enough. That’s why you haven’t reach your critical mass yet. Especially for non-prime locations, you must do more marketing to attract people and make it a unique destination where we people are willing to go to look for great things. To do that you must be more radical to grab people’s attention. Think about how you can get favourable media attention. You need to get your brand in people’s minds.

I’ve read your article and I agree with your views that the presence of a “starving crowd” is indeed important for any business.

I am currently managing a start-up that is probably similar to the “aspiring entrepreneur wannabe”, but we sell garment necessities that everyone would want to wear/use everyday. e.g. underwear, towels, socks, etc. I have very strong supplier/sourcing support and the prices that I offer should be attractive to locals.

However, I found that there was no “starving crowd” after I opened shop. Sure, there were those that came back time after time to buy from us, but the exposure of the shop was probably to little since the location was not prime. Or is it just another excuse I am making? Or maybe the product mix and low prices don’t really create “starving crowds”? Maybe you could shed a little light on this.

Thank you in advance.

Warmest Regards,
Daniel