August 2008

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Retailer Spotlight

By Kristin Lewis


Active Movement

Movements Dance & Activewear takes off, thanks to owner Sharon Howell’s business savvy and dance expertise.


For the past 15 years, Sharon Howell has been putting Movements Dance & Activewear on the map by serving a dance population that has grown to encompass a 50-mile radius. Her secret? First-hand experience as a dancer, teacher and studio owner.


Born and raised in Columbia, SC, Howell began taking dance when she was 8 years old. She performed with the University of South Carolina Dance Company in college, and after graduation, returned to Sha-Mar Dance Studios, where she trained as a teen, to operate and then own the school for seven years. Other professional dance opportunities followed suit, including a teaching position at the Columbia Conservatory of Dance, where she became head of the Tap Department, and the role of artistic director at the Columbia City Tap Company.


In 2002, Howell and her daughter, Ashley, founded a 50-member competition group called CC Dance Company, a troupe that continues to actively participate in competitive events across multiple genres, including ballet, hip hop, jazz, lyrical, musical theater and tap.


With a lifetime of dancing and teaching experience under her belt, Howell feels that her training gives her an edge as a dance retailer. “I’m able to work with more dancers who come from many different studios,” says the entrepreneur, who prides herself on being able to meet the specific yet varied needs of local educators while operating a successful business.


Following a Successful Growth Formula


Before it was called Movements Dance & Activewear, the business was known as Southern Heritage Dancewear, an Irmo, SC, establishment run by a husband-and-wife team of proprietors. When the husband passed away, the shop was put up for sale, and Howell purchased it in 1992. After four years of business, Howell relocated the operation to another space within the same town, but changed the name to its current moniker.


For Howell, one of the hardest lessons to learn during those early years as a dance retailer was how to select inventory, and she urges novice storeowners not to repeat her mistakes. “Make sure you have what the studios around you want, not necessarily what you want them to have,” she says. “Over time I’ve learned to trust my sales reps, but [I recommend] being careful of the smaller companies popping up here and there. They could lead you down the wrong path with things you can’t get rid of.”


When she first started out, Howell did her best to choose inventory wisely, but still wound up stocking merchandise that stagnated. “Use the more reputable wholesale companies,” she warns. “You know that stuff is going to sell. Then try a little of something else.” Now, she relies more on customer feedback and vendor input when selecting products. “I listen to the customers to know what they want and like,” she says. “Or, if I notice that certain items are selling better, I’ll get more of those in. I put magazines in front of people. I listen to the reps who come in and bring new stuff.”


This open and communicative methodology is an integral part of Howell’s business growth, but it took years to develop, especially when it came to dance teachers. The entrepreneur spent nearly a decade cultivating relationships with local studios in order to establish her reputation and gain their trust. But, she says, the effort was well worth it. “Over the last five years, I’ve developed a pretty good rapport with dance teachers,” she says. “It takes them a while to trust you and send their students to you.”


As her business grew, Howell also started taking on a measured approach to customer relations. Like all retailers, she wants each shopper to leave her store satisfied, but she does take exception to one tenet of conventional retail wisdom: “I don’t believe that the customer is always right. [Maybe] most of the time, but not always,” she says. Generally, she tries to be accommodating, but is also unafraid to show confidence when handling unreasonable people. For example, a common challenge for Howell is dealing with returns.


At her shop, sales are final unless an item is defective, yet the storeowner still encounters people who try to return merchandise that has been worn or items they have changed their minds about. But the retailer stands firm behind her store policy. “Please customers as best you can,” she advises, “but don’t let them take advantage of you.”


Eye on Service and Staffing


To boost traffic, Howell places a top priority on keeping her promotions fresh by changing them up every few weeks—from “Buy two pairs of tights, get the third half-off” to “20 percent off all leotards.” She communicates with her customer base via an e-mail subscriber list, which she uses to easily update regular patrons on store specials. During the busy back-to-school season, she extends the business’ hours of operation, to offer her customers more convenient and flexible shopping periods.


The storeowner also focuses on outreach, both within her area and beyond. In an effort to galvanize the local community, she supported National Dance Week by putting on huge sales to help publicize the occasion. “It was really successful,” she says. “But it took a lot of planning to get the word out, and in trying to make it more of a community event.”


In addition, Howell packs up inventory to serve studios outside her area. Bringing the shop to them, the retailer provides shoe-fitting services and items for sale to promote her business, as well as cater to dancers who are unable to travel to her Irmo location.


Successfully running in-store promotions and off-site services like these takes a lot of effort, a fact that Howell is aware of as she considers her seasonal staffing needs. Depending on the time of year, she employs three to five people, who are typically high school or college-aged dancers. Given their backgrounds, they tend to be proficient with computers, which is a boon for the shop, as well as expertise with dance, which serves Movements’ customers well. “Almost every person has danced in some way, shape or form—that’s a requirement,” says Howell, who generally pairs new employees with an experienced mentor to learn the ropes.


Learning how to fit pointe shoes is another matter. “They have to go through a training period for pointe shoes that is more intensive than learning to fit jazz or tap shoes,” she says. “We have to work on that for a while.”


Though there may be other staffers on hand to fit pointe shoes, the storeowner, who has attended seminars to perfect the tricky art of fitting, enjoys staying connected to this aspect of service: “I like to be there for the fittings, especially for first-time pointe [dancers],” she says, of the young customers who entrust the shop with one of their most precious dance moments.


So what’s next for Howell? “I see sales increasing, as they have been over the last 10 years,” she says. “And I’ll keep my ears open to what’s out there in the dance world and what my customers want.”


About the Author: Kristin Lewis, the former managing editor of Dance Spirit magazine, is a writer in New York City.