Photo by Kathy Rudolph
“My first customer was an 80-year-old woman
and the second was a 12-year-old girl.”
An InStyle magazine article about Fashion
Trucks piqued her interest. “I was consumed
by the idea and couldn’t wait to buy a truck
and order clothes,” says Ging.
She affectionately refers to her truck
as “Cookie.” “I bought Cookie on Easter
in Ellwood City,” says Ging. “I had heart
palpitations because I had never paid that
amount of cash for anything.”
A few coincidental events that day led her
to Cookie’s name. “There were two trucks,
but the one had a number 24 on it,” laughs
Ging, a Pittsburgh sports fan. “At that time,
the number was Pittsburgh Penguins hockey
player Matt Cooke’s. He was a defensive
player not known for scoring, and he scored
that very day at a game! Then, the woman
who notarized it was named Cookie. It was a
sign from God!”
The truck needed some serious TLC before
it could open for business. “It was a big, green,
rusty Chevy box truck when I bought it and
I almost had to wear a mask on the inside
because it was so bad,” says Ging.
After researching other fashion trucks
and designing it to suit her needs, she had it
renovated to contain a fitting room, shelving
and racks. She also practiced driving in a
church parking lot and learned how to change
a spark plug or two before venturing out.
Her idea of offering clothes for women onthe-go came from her former job. “I traveled
a lot and liked clothes that I could wear with
flip-flops during the day, throw jewelry and
heels on with at night, or roll up in a suitcase,”
Ging recalls.
Today, Style Truck continues to
successfully provide women of all ages a
convenient way to shop for updated fashions.
“I don’t have a demographic of who I sell to,”
says Ging. “My first customer was an 80-yearold woman and the second was a 12-year-old
girl.”
But whatever the age, Ging wants women
to feel good about themselves in the clothes
that she sells. “It’s funny — when you are in
the truck, it’s an intimate, small space and you
really get to know the customers,” she notes.
“These women can be so hard on themselves,
which is very sad. They ‘have to wear sleeves,’
or ‘can’t wear prints.’
“Women just need to find clothing that
makes them feel comfortable; something that
makes them look and feel good and go with it.
They shouldn’t restrict themselves.” n
For more information, visit
mystyletruck.com.
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