At the 2026 MODE Market Trade Show in San Antonio, TX, the lunchroom buzzed each day with discussions between retailers from across North America. One of the most popular conversation topics? Amazon. Some store owners bemoaned losing clients to the e-commerce behemoth. Others shrugged it off, citing its increasingly cheaply made products as no match for their specialist items and expert customer service. But as online sales continue to dominate the general retail market, it begs the question: Should dance retailers really view Amazon as a competitor?
To Worry, or Not to Worry?
In her MODE keynote address, Samantha Conner of The Boutique Hub—a community dedicated to empowering independent retailers—addressed the subject head-on. “If your girl is going to Amazon, she is not your customer,” the Hub’s wholesale director told the room of retailers. She explained that the issue comes down to mindset. While it can feel scary to purposefully exclude what seems like potential customers from your target market, retailers need to be realistic. “A customer who really wants the experience of getting the best fit and the best product is never going to get that from Amazon,” Conner tells Dance Retailer News. “It comes down to what the customer is looking for. If they’re going to Amazon, their priorities don’t align with what you, the retailer, offer.”
According to Jeff Kinney, longtime owner of Kinney Dancewear of Noblesville, IN, Amazon shopping most often occurs in the children’s market, when parents are unfamiliar with the dance community or product quality. “That’s where good relationships with studios and teachers come into play,” he says. For Kinney, the key target market for independent retailers is pre-professionals between ages 12 and 18—those who are on pointe or go through shoes frequently. “They live, breathe, and die dance,” he says. “They’re the ones who’ll pay $80 for a leotard. They’re not going to Amazon.” (That’s not to say that the children’s market isn’t important, he clarifies, just that, in general, younger dancers generate less revenue.)
Solveig Mebust, director of operations at Grand Jeté in St. Paul, MN, also sees truth in Conner’s statement that customers attracted to online shopping aren’t who independent dance stores should be targeting. But she says that the situation may not always be so simple. Dance retail is low-margin, high-cost work; the personalized fittings and high-quality products stores offer makes their costs of business much higher than Amazon’s. So when, for example, a customer goes in for a fitting and buys shoes in-store, then later purchases tights on Amazon, Mebust considers that lost revenue. “That would have been a place for us to get more of our margin back because it’s less labor-heavy,” she says. “I think there are layers to this that aren’t necessarily summarized in the idea of ‘Amazon’s customer is not our customer.’ ” That’s why it’s so important to build client loyalty, relevancy, and accessibility, Mebust says.
Where to Focus Instead
Online shopping is here to stay, but according to recent data collected by The Boutique Hub, in the wider independent retail industry, about 86 percent of shoppers continue to purchase in-store. People are craving in-person interactions post-pandemic, she explains, and shoppers today tend to prefer the ease of in-store curation, as well as feedback from trusted sources. “The difference is that people are starting their search online before going in-person,” says Conner, meaning Amazon’s biggest advantage is online discoverability. The giant has “bought up a huge portion of ad revenue, so they’re going to show up first in search engine results.”
To stay ahead in discoverability, Conner recommends that retailers strengthen their online presence. “Once a buyer starts that discovery online, then they’re curious about who can help them get the best fit, the best product, or the best shoe,” she says. “You need to be the one who’s right there to fill that need.” The most successful marketing models are omni-channel, so focus on growing your social media presence, SEO optimization, and website accessibility. Your marketing should “leverage your expertise and urgency,” she says. “If a customer needs pink tights for a show in two hours, Amazon will never solve their problem. Your strength is your reliability.”
Additionally, Mebust offers free shipping for all online orders within Grand Jeté’s customer region. That not only improves accessibility for customers who live far from the store, it also re-creates the sense of ease Amazon offers. “Whether you’ve shopped with us before or not, for anything that doesn’t require a higher level of service, like a fitting, we can get it to you for free,” she says. With less labor spent, the store has more of a margin to make offering free shipping well worth it. She and Kinney also offer customer-appreciation programs with loyalty points, discounts, and other rewards to encourage one-stop shopping. And Conner recommends selling bundles of dancewear basics, or starter kits, to appeal directly to new customers or parents of young dancers.
The Bottom Line
Kinney recalls his mother telling him that he can only control what happens within the four walls of his store. “If I concentrate on that, then I will be fine,” Kinney says. “We get our feelings hurt a lot in this industry, because we really care. But it’s business. Don’t waste your time or energy on what you can’t control.”
Conner agrees. “That’s really how you’re going to win: Shifting from fear to strategy,” she says. “The wrong fear is, ‘I’m losing customers to Amazon.’ The mental shift is, ‘My customers are shopping everywhere, but they’re deciding where to buy based on the experience. So lean harder into what you offer, and what your strengths are: ‘I know you, I know your size, I know your story.’ That experience sells itself.”
Kyra Laubacher is Dance Spirit’s editor in chief and Pointe‘s news editor.