Gayla Bentley Fashion Before Shark Tank
Gayla Bentley states that she wants to make sure that all women have a chance to buy desirable and beautiful high-end clothes, not just the skinny models that you see in magazines. Gayla Bentley hopes that the Sharks will invest in her company, and will see that this ignored market is a real goldmine.
Gayla Bentley needs an investment from the Sharks, in order to be able to expand her company and make her clothing available to more women in the United States of America. She also wants to be able to expand and sell her clothing internationally.
Gayla Bentley Fashion During Shark Tank
“Gayla Bentley and four other women walk confidently and stand in front of the Sharks”
Gayla Bentley starts introducing herself to the Sharks and states that she is the designer and founder of the Gayle Bentley Fashion Design Group. Gayla Bentley continues by stating that she is on Shark Tank to ask for the Sharks’ wisdom and experience.
“Kevin O’Leary asks Gayla Bentley what about the money”
Gayla Bentley states that it is a very good question and answers the question by stating that she is seeking an investment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, in exchange for a twenty percent stake in her company.
Gayle Bentley continues her presentation by saying that she is representing about sixty percent of the American women that wear a size twelve or larger. She states that they are tired of being discriminated against by other fashion designers, being forced to shop at the very corners of department stores, only to find clothes that don’t fit and are not likeable.
“One of the other women start showing her Gayla Bentley designer clothing to the Sharks”
Gayla Bentley states that she has spent the last ten years focusing on building the Gayla Bentley brand, which are modern sizes for modern women. Her clothing starts at size twelve and goes up till size twenty eight. Gayla Bentley continues by stating that she would like to open the first Gayla Bentley flagship store in Houston, Texas.
“Gayla Bentley asks Barbara Corcoran why they would have to split up, if they went shopping for clothes together”
Before Barbara Corcoran can answer the question, Gayla Bentley states that the large sizes are usually on different floors, which means that larger sized women need to go and look for them, while skinnier women can find everything they need on the first floor.
This is the reason why Gayla Bentley wants to integrate larger sizes on the first floor. She states that she has dedicated thirty years of her life to make this happen.
“Robert Herjavec jokingly states that Gayla Bentley is only twenty five years old, how did she ever spend thirty years on her projects”
“Gayla Bentley takes what Robert Herjavec said as a compliment and calls him darling”
“The Sharks start laughing in a very positive manner”
“Kevin O’Leary asks if it is possible that larger sized women simply do not care about fashion as much as smaller sized women”
“Robert Herjavec sarcastically tells Gayla Bentley to beat Kevin O’Leary with a stick”
“Kevin O’Leary states that he believes the market always serves the man, and that is the way the world works at the moment”
“Gayla Bentley states that there always has to be one pioneer”
“Kevin O’Leary asks Gayla Bentley if that pioneer is going to be her”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by saying that it could be her, if only she gets the wisdom, experience and money from the Sharks.
“Barbara Corcoran points at the other women and asks Gayla Bentley if she could tell the Sharks what her fashion items sell for”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by showing a coat made out of Italian wool, and stating that the coat in particular costs four hundred and seventy dollars.
“Daymond John asks Gayla Bentley what it costs to make that particular coat”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by saying that the coat costs a hundred and twenty five dollars to make.
“Robert Herjavec seems shocked by how cheap it costs to make a designer coat”
“Daymond John asks Gayla Bentley what retail stores she is in at the moment”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by saying that she is not in any physical retail store at the moment, but she does sell her clothing online on Neiman Marcus.
“Kevin Harrington asks Gayla Bentley if she isn’t in a physical retail store and if she is only selling her clothing in wholesale to Neiman Marcus”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by repeating that she is not in any physical retail store and that she is only selling her clothing in wholesale to Neiman Marcus.
“Robert Herjavec asks Gayla Bentley what her sales are at the moment”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by saying that her sales in the last six years are a little under five hundred thousand dollars.
“Robert Herjavec asks Gayla Bentley if she has only been making a hundred thousand dollars a year, for over six years”
Gayla Bentley answers her question by correcting her previous answer, and states that her sales have been a little under five hundred thousand dollars each year, for over six years.
Kevin O’Leary states that he is stuck on one thing, which is that he has to know why retailers will not place larger sized clothing between regular sizes.
Gayla Bentley states that retailers do not want to place clothing with a size over twelve between their luxury clothing, because they think that larger sized women do not deserve to feel comfortable and fashionable, which is very discriminating.
“Daymond John states that he knows about this, and that what Gayla Bentley is saying is absolutely true”
“Kevin O’Leary asks Gayla Bentley if her clothes are not luxurious enough for retailers”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by saying that her clothes are definitely not luxurious enough for regular retailers, which is why she needs an investment from the Sharks, in order to become the pioneer and be able to break through in the large-sized fashion industry.
“Daymond John tells Barbara Corcoran to be honest, and asks her if she thinks that Gayla Bentley’s clothes are luxurious and fashionable”
Barbara Corcoran states that she thinks all of Gayla Bentley’s clothing are beautiful, and that the attention for detail is usually very expensive.
“Robert Herjavec asks Daymond John if Gayla Bentley’s idea of opening up a flagship store is the right strategy for her”
Daymond John answers the question by saying that it really depends on multiple aspects, but that Gayla Bentley will have to create the environment herself, which is difficult.
Robert Herjavec asks if it wouldn’t be better to make all of Gayla Bentley’s clothing available in all sizes, because her designs are actually very suitable for women of all sizes.
“Robert Herjavec states that Gayle Bentley has done a very good job with her designs and presentation, but he wants to return to the two hundred fifty thousand dollar investment”
“Robert Herjavec asks Gayla Bentley why she wants and needs an investment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars right now, just to be able to open up a single flagship store”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by saying that she will open up more stores, after starting up her flagship store in Houston, Texas. She continues by stating that the wholesale of her clothing went down, which made her quickly think on her feet and take that momentum to open up her own retail store. Because of her quick thinking, sales went up to a hundred and thirty seven percent, with the average sale being over a thousand dollars.
“Robert Herjavec asks Gayla Bentley why she needs an investment from the Sharks, just to be able to open up her own store”
Gayla Bentley answers the question by saying that banks are not in the mood to lend her any money at the moment, even if her business is very profitable.
Kevin Harrington states that there are so many different Gayla Bentley products, and that when he does an infomercial, he only has one product in thirty minutes. Kevin Harrington states that coupling all the different sizes with the retail business is very scary for him.
“Before Kevin Harrington is able to state that he is out, Barbara Corcoran interrupts him”
Barbara Corcoran states that she has been watching QBC and that there is an adorable little man presenting clothes just like Gayla Bentley. Barbara Corcoran states that the clothes are going off the shelves so fast, the adorable little man has difficulties keeping stock.
Gayla Bentley states that she has a home shopping network pursuing her, but she didn’t want to sign any contracts before she pitcher her products in front of the Sharks. She states that she needs someone with wisdom and experience, in order to make the right deal.
Robert Herjavec states that he loves Gayla Bentley’s story and that he has a huge amount of respect for the sales that she has built in her business. However, Robert Herjavec states that he thinks she has the wrong strategy, and for that reason, he is out.
Gayla Bentley states that she is very flexible and would be open to any other suggestions on how to proceed with her company.
Kevin O’Leary states that no retail store wants Gayla Bentley’s clothes on their shelves, which is where about ninety percent of all clothing sales are conducted. Kevin O’Leary continues by stating that he cannot be the pioneer with arrows in his back, which is also the reason why he doesn’t want to invest. Kevin O’Leary states that he is out as well.
Kevin Harrington states that he wanted to say it before, but couldn’t because Barbara Corcoran interrupted him. Kevin Harrington does not want to invest in Gayla Bentley’s company and states that he is out.
Barbara Corcoran states that she loves Gayla Bentley, and finds it weird that Kevin Harrington does not want to give her a chance by going fifty-fifty with Barbara herself.
“Robert Herjavec states that he has never seen a Shark that tried so hard to get another Shark back into the race”
“Kevin O’Leary states that he doesn’t understand what this all have to do with money”
Barbara Corcoran states that she will invest half the money, if Gayla Bentley can get the other half from one of the other Sharks.
Gayla Bentley states that Daymond John has built up a successful business and that he has female clientele that wear large sizes. This means that it is a very natural fit for Gayla Bentley and Daymond John to work together, because Daymond John already has the distribution, the power and the industry.
Daymond John states that he is willing to make an offer of two hundred fifty thousand dollars, but in exchange, he wants to have a fifty percent stake in Gayla Bentley’s company.
“Daymond John asks Barbara Corcoran if she wants to join in on his offer”
“Barbara Corcoran states that she wants to join in on Daymond Johns offer”
Gayla Bentley states that she wants to remain in creative control of her own company, because she believes that she knows what women want.
“Gayla Bentley asks Daymond John if the percentage could go down to forty five”
“Daymond John states that normally he would ask for fifty one percent, but the reason why he is asking for fifty percent is so that Gayla Bentley could be in creative control”
Gayla Bentley states that she accepts Daymond John’s and Barbara Corcoran’s offer.
Gayla Bentley Fashion Now in 2018 – After Shark Tank
Even though Gayla Bentley was making a lot of sales with her clothing company, she was still struggling to get a loan from the banks, in order to start her own physical retail store. Up until now, she had been selling her clothes in wholesale to Neiman Marcus. Gayla Bentley was hoping to receive knowledge and experience from the Sharks, as well as their investment money, which she really needed at the time.
With the investment of Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran, Gayla Bentley was about to expand her business, selling her clothing in multiple stores, including on her own website. There is no mention of Gayla Bentley Fashion being the best or worst on Shark Tank. The reason why three out of the five Sharks weren’t interested in investing in Gayla Bentley Fashion is because they found it to be too risky.
You can easily look at all the different clothes and order them on the Gayla Bentley Fashion website at www.gaylabentley.com. The website does look outdated, designed like websites in 2008/2009. There are eight different categories of clothing, which are called Jackets, Dresses, Special Occasion, Tank Tops, Bottoms, Spring Tops, Gayla Bentley’s Year Round Basics and Gayla Bentley’s Million Dollar Blouse.
The clothing are very fashionable and come in regular and Plus Sizes, which also makes them pretty expensive to purchase. The prices range from anywhere between $150 up till $500. People seem to be very positive about Gayla Bentley Fashion, especially because of the fact that it comes in Plus Sizes.
Even though Gayla Bentley Fashion was not failing as a company, the investment from Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran really gave it a much-needed kick start. It seems that Gayla Bentley Fashion really succeeded as a company, especially after Gayla Bentley appeared on Shark Tank.
