Chamber Member of the Week: Alisa Nicole Dancewear
Lisa Aull opened Alisa Nicole Dancewear in downtown Owensboro this past fall to fill the void of quality dancewear in the tri-state area. The inspiration for the store’s name comes from her daughters, whose middle names are Alisa and Nicole.
The store features products and services geared toward the dance community, focusing on shoes, apparel, and accessories for individual dancers and dance teams within the community.
Highly-trained staff members at Alisa Nicole specialize in fitting dancers for pointe shoes. Local dancers previously had to travel as far as Nashville or Louisville for this specialized service.
“Busy working parents don’t have time to drive 2 hours away – we needed to offer this in Owensboro,” Aull said. “I feel like we have it all, but if I don’t have something in stock, we will have it in 3 days, and I promise my prices will be better than anywhere you can get it. ”
Aull is no stranger to retail or downtown. She also owns and operates Lil Bit Sassy, offering families a large selection of children’s clothing in a personalized and unique shopping experience for the last 7 years.
“Almost 2 years ago, Lil Bit Sassy started carrying a line of dancewear, and I didn’t realize it would be such a huge turnout and become such a big part of our store,” she said.
With the dancewear section gaining popularity rapidly, she quickly realized there was an opportunity to expand and create a specialty store.
“Our service representatives at Lil Bit Sassy also help pick out clothes in the boutique. We want kids to come in and be kids, eat suckers, and enjoy themselves, which might take away from that focus. I decided to separate these two entities,” Aull said.
Aull and company pride themselves on being a one-stop shop with many dancewear options. They also offer special discounts for dance teams in the community.
“The teams are coming in before their competitions — I think it’s exciting. We have also worked with several Indiana teams,” Aull said. “I can special order costumes for performances like The Nutcracker.”
Alisa Nicole offers tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, character shoes, costumes, and various dance gear. Popular brands for sale include Capezio, Suffolk, Bloch, and many more.
Alisa Nicole, located at 115 West Second Street, is open Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays. The store website will be ready soon and allow customers to visit by appointment only on Tuesdays or Wednesdays for private fittings.
“My girls were so excited – their name is everywhere, and we love it,” Aull said. “We enjoy serving dance studios and dance teams, and we hope our discounts for local teams will continue to grow the sport. Support local, sponsor local, be local: that’s how we do it.”
By John Kirkpatrick The Owensboro Times