By most measures the business (and some would say art) of fashion merchandising requires a keen understanding of the industry and a vision for style and niche in order to establish oneself – qualities that would normally be cultivated through experience. So why would a naval aviator with a degree in history and political science step aside from a potential naval career to plunge into a totally different career track for which he had no training? Jim Ball stepped into it like a pair of comfortable shoes. "I thought it was a natural segue, I was a history major with a political science minor and then became a naval aviator. After selling insurance for awhile it seemed natural to go into retail," he jokes.

Jim admits always having an eye for fashion – often taking his dates to fashion stores and coaching them through a fashion makeover. Not a dating tactic most men could get away with.

Since leaving the navy in 1971, his Jim Ball Inc., has gradually dotted the landscape of Northwest Florida and Alabama with fashion stores targeting key segments of the population, earning him several business awards along the way.

His first store, Tooley Street, opened in Pensacola in 1974 followed by another one in Fort Walton Beach’s Santa Rosa Mall in 1976. But the realization of the true market potential occurred in 1981 while sitting in the Harbor Docks restaurant in Destin. "I noticed families with the young daughters wearing Rolex watches." In 1985 he opened yet another Tooley Street in Destin. "We have a great sophisticated customer that comes down here," he notes. "This 30 mile segment from the Destin Bridge to Seaside is such a unique upscale area. It is like a little Palm Beach on the Gulf coast. We couldn’t do this unless we had the customer base that comes down here."

In 2000 six new stores were opened to bring the total to 17 spanning the Gulf coast from Orange Beach, Alabama to Seaside, Florida.. When asked how he manages all this activity and go to market, Jim does not equivocate, "Good People! I have a great staff." All of his staff are female which Jim wryly adds "varies in number from 22-26 on any day of the week depending upon their mood."

A key distinguishing characteristic is a twist to the concept of chain stores whereas homogenous themes are established at multiple, non-competing sites. Rather than opening the same store in different places, he has opened different stores in the same place, each specifically targeting a distinct age or gender. "Whatever Your Style, We Have Your Store," is one of their slogans. This concept of clustering has brought certain efficiencies that have helped the bottom line.

But the timing of the fashion markets is 6 months ahead of the season poses a challenge. "It is very difficult to be thinking winter line when you’re in the middle of the summer," he says. "You have to start downsizing your thinking. In the past 12 months we have set up a program on our computer that helps control how much the buyers spend."

While the sandals and shorts are the favorite of beach goers in the region Jim notes a surprising upward trend in what people are wearing. "This area is really sort of surprising compared to some of the other areas we go to. When we go to Los Angles we notice that that girls here in this region tend to dress up more than they do there. California is a little bit more laid back. Whereas these girls dress up every night that they go out." Former L.A. fashion model and Destin resident Barbara Reilly adds "Diva (one of the stores) is the only store that carries what I like to wear."

One of the stores, The Buzz, offers cutting edge clothing fashions, furniture, home accessories, bath & body products, fine cosmetics, and an entire shoe department. Jim ventured out into the dot.com merchandising arena with a web site (www.buzzchicks.com) to move some of the product. To date he feels that the online merchandising has been more of a customer relations tool than a viable merchant channel. Many of his previous customers do stay in touch.

"When we can do something online in real-time with streaming video we will feel like we really have something."

Jim’s major strategy is to achieve a clear image of each store’s target customer. "We listen to our consumers very carefully in order to identify and satisfy their wants and needs." His formula is "Success=The Finest Stores + The Greatest Staff + The Best Customers". And to see how some of these customers look in his attire one can’t argue with this success.