Running a dance retail store is a full-time job, one that requires owners to take on multiple roles at the same time to keep everything going smoothly. Yet, for some retailers, balancing their inventory and budgets with side gigs helps support the overall health of their businesses. “All of my multiple roles are in the arts, so each job enhances my skills and abilities and allows me to grow in a field that I love,” says Amber Wisniewski, owner of Relevé Dancewear in Monroe, MI. But taking on extra work doesn’t come without its challenges, which can range from managing time effectively to avoiding burnout.
DRN caught up with Wisniewski and two other retailers who juggle multiple roles to find out how they make it work in today’s retail landscape.
Building Connections and Expertise
When Gilbert Russell opened his first shop, Brio Bodywear, in Ottawa, Canada, he was working a full-time job with the Canadian government. “I would leave my job and open the store at 12, be relieved by the owner of the store we sublet from at 1, then go back at 4 and cover the store until close at 6,” he says. Russell couldn’t keep up that routine forever, and there came a time where he felt the store needed his full attention.
Thirty years later, Russell manages Brio Bodywear alongside working as a speaker and coach to other specialty storeowners. “It’s energizing,” he says. “Having to explain or teach something gives you a new perspective. At first I was worried that the store would become ‘that old thing’ and I would get bored with it, but because [this role] is related to it, it’s revitalized me to work on the store more. Seeing how other people do things makes me redouble my own efforts.”
Some dance-store owners work as dance teachers, manage studios, or sew costumes after hours. Doing so helps them to deepen their ties to the dance community, reach more potential customers, build trust, and showcase their expertise. Wisniewski maintains two additional roles in the dance industry: as the director of marketing for the River Raisin Centre for the Arts in Monroe, MI, and as the email marketing manager for Dance Media Publications (the publisher of Dance Retailer News). Working so closely with two major companies that support dancers and the arts keeps her inspired.
Leveraging Skills From Outside of Dance
Working outside of the dance industry can also be helpful. For Michelle Parisien, owner of En Pointe Unique Dancewear Boutique in Sunrise, FL, her 15-year career as a nurse practitioner helped her better understand and approach point shoe fittings. Parisien opened her store after her daughter Mischa, a ballet student, noticed there were no stores that exclusively sold pointe shoes in their local area. “After doing market research, we found that only selling pointe shoes was not sustainable, so we [decided to] sell all things dance-related instead,” she says. With her background in medicine, Parisien has an extensive knowledge of human anatomy that, when paired with one year of training with a master pointe shoe fitter from New Zealand, and pointe-shoe–fitting certifications from Bloch, Nikolay, Suffolk, and Gaynor Minden, deepens her expertise in pointe shoe fitting to better serve her customers.
When to Dial It Back
Time management tops the list of challenges faced by storeowners working multiple jobs. Russell cautions that there may come a time when a side gig has to take a back seat so the store can get the full attention it needs. “Consider where you are and how big you want to be,” he says. “At some point, the store is going to need your full focus.”
Finding the time to get it all done is a top pain point for Wisniewski, especially as a mother to three busy kids. “I have learned how to prioritize my time and to delegate what I can, but the most important thing is to give myself grace when things get overwhelming,” she says. For example, as her kids are actively involved in dance, scouts, and sports, Wisniewski has adjusted her store’s hours to accommodate evening drop-offs and pickups. “I have learned that it’s okay to change how things are operating with the season of life you are in,” she says. “It’s also really important to have a strong support system in place.”
Parisien was still working at her dream job as a hospice nurse when she began the process of opening her store. Challenges in health care during the pandemic inspired her to step away and focus all of her energy on running the store. “At the moment, I am a one-woman show,” says Parisien. “A typical day is extremely busy. Not only do I have to serve my walk-in customers, I have to process online orders, manage phone calls, deal with inventory and pointe shoe fittings, [not to mention managing] all the marketing and social media.”
Parisien plans to return part-time to hospice care over the summer, and will hire staff to help manage the shop when she does. When delegating responsibility to employees to devote time to your other activities, Russell recommends putting clear systems in place. “For a lot of retailers, they are the store, they are the systems,” he says. “If you pull them out, everything falls apart. By putting [clear systems] in place, everything will continue to run.” In dance retail, policies such as store opening and closing procedures, POS and inventory training, and customer-service standards are all key to ensuring that things run well in the storeowner’s absence.
Giving Your All
It’s no understatement when Parisien says that running a store is a lot of work. “It takes patience when you first start out, especially if the store is built from the ground up,” she says. “My best advice would be to make sure that you are willing to give 100 percent to growing your store, even if that means you have to take a step back from your current career.”
Giving it your all can still include work outside the store, especially if it helps build business know-how. But the type of work—and the reason behind it—should be crystal clear, according to Russell. “Taking on other jobs to pay the bills is hard—I’ve been there,” Russell adds. “But sometimes the answer isn’t spending three hours a night working [for a food delivery platform like] DoorDash. It’s using that time to optimize your business instead.”
The Bottom Line
Working outside of your dance store can help set you up for success in an ever-changing retail climate. The extra work isn’t a sign that your business isn’t working but, rather, proof of the passion, resilience, and commitment you have to moving forward.
Libby Basile is a former editor for Dance Retailer News and a specialty-retail storeowner based in Cheshire, CT.