It's the type of place where customers stop by just to chat ... a shop where it's not out-of-the-question to have clothes sent to you for a fitting or to have ensembles selected before you arrive. And it has been that way for more than 60 years.
The Fashion Shop originated in the late 1940s as a ladies apparel boutique that offered not only stylish garments, but exceptional service.
Michele Marcotte/The Daily Sentinel |
Colorful, interesting styles have been sold off the racks of The Fashion Shop for more than 60 years.
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"They were always so accommodating," said Joyce Swearingen, a longtime resident who began to shop there in the 1950s. "They had someone to alter your clothes, and they would help you find things."
The same is true today, explains owner Charla Sparks, who purchased the shop with her mother, Margie, and cousin, Kay, in 1984.
"There's a lot of customer service here," she said on a recent Thursday from her shop on North Street. "I'll have husbands who call up and say, 'It's my wife's birthday or our anniversary, pick me out about four things to choose from,' or (customers) will call me at home and ask, 'What did I get to go with this? Do I need hose? Jewelry?'"
And, like the shop's original owners, Charla says she is always ready to accommodate them.
It's not uncommon for her to set aside outfits for her regular customers or to help style an outfit with accessories, jewelry and shoes.
It's all part of the fun, she says.
In the 60-plus years of The Fashion Shop, women's apparel has evolved quite a bit. No longer do ultra suede suits and vintage Dalton skirts line the store racks. Instead, customers find conservative, trendy fashions.
"I kind of have the same looks as the younger girls, but adapt it for someone who is 34, 50 or 60," Charla says, describing the clothes she sells. "... Fifty is the new 30, but you have to be careful."
While it's a large part of the store's appeal, fashion isn't the only reason ladies come by.
Situated in a former restaurant, a long, wrap-around counter in the shop provides ample space for lunchtime visits.
"A lot of people will bring their lunch in and eat," Charla says, with a laugh. "... There's no real pressure to shop."
Charla's mother, Margie Coats, was a frequent customer of The Fashion Shop in the '60s and '70s, when then owners Dena Mae Bass and Lucille Heitman made the shop's name synonymous with exceptional customer service. When the women decided to sell the business they had built with founder Clara Long, Margie, a retired teacher and principal, took a leap of faith with her family and purchased it.
The family operated the business out of its original location on Main Street for six years, but eventually moved it to the downtown square in 1990. The three worked together in the shop until 1991, when after a long battle with cancer, Margie died.
"We went through a whole lot of family things," Charla explains, referring to her mother's death, the deaths of two of her sister's children and an accident that left Kay's husband with an amputated leg. "But being a family business, you kind of keep going even though you've had all these catastrophes."
Tragedy struck once again when three years later, Kay discovered she, too, had developed cancer, and died seven weeks after her diagnosis.
"I had customers come in when Kay was sick, and I would go to Houston to see her," she said. "They would watch my store for me. And even now, I've had some customers who have shopped so long with me that if I'm busy with someone else, they'll come in and write up their ticket, put the money in the cash drawer and give themselves a receipt."
In her 25 years with the business, Charla says she has seen numerous changes, not only in the closing of local retailers like Mize Department Store, but also in the quantity and style of merchandise sold wholesale at Dallas Market Center.
"We had the hurricanes and 9/11 and that hurt business," she explains, adding that she made it through those challenging times because she didn't have the overhead of many of those larger retailers.
She says her one rule of success has been, "You got to do what you do, and do it best."
And for more than 60 years that is exactly what each of The Fashion Shop's owners have done.
