Today I am pleased to feature one of my good friends Keri, and her recently-opened House of Fashions, located in Grafton WV. Don’t get me wrong, ladies, there are a LOT of brides who are on a seemingly never-ending search for the perfect dress, and Grafton is not far from the Pittsburgh area! As a matter of fact, Keri comes up frequently to hang out with me and some mutual friends, and we were plane buddies when we went out to Vegas last November.
Here we are on our way to see Zumanity at the New York, New York! Crazy show!
Keri is also a trained Industrial Engineer, so she’s a business-savvy chica! House of Fashions opened on February 1st, but there’s a new store in the works! Read on to learn more about House of Fashions and all of the fabulosity they offer!
Owners: Melissa Hays and Keri Hays
Year established: Started getting it together in 2009, but are opening here in 2010!
Store specialties: Bridal, Prom, Pageant, along with Custom made everything done by Melissa. We look at it as though if you have a need, we can help you.
Describe your brand in 3 words: It is so difficult to describe anything in three words. For us, its all about the experience the customer has.
What lines of bridal dresses do you carry? We are always expanding, especially because we are a new store. Right now we carry Sincerity, Justin Alexander, Mon Cheri, Sophia Tolli, Emerald, and David Tutura. There are some other lines that we definately want to carry in the future. The National Bridal Market in Chicago was a sight to see. I couldn’t tell you how many vendors we visited, but I am for certain I saw upwards of 3000 wedding gowns within a period of three days. Yes. Really.
Which line is your personal favorite and why? Wow, thats so tough. Out of the ones we currently carry, I like David Tutura. A few of his dresses are ‘convertible’. You have a floor length gown to wear to the ceremony, and then the bottom detaches from it so that you can wear a shorter version to the reception. Super cool.
Describe your ideal bride: I think every bride is ideal because I can pretend to live vicariously through them, haha. Kidding. I would have to say a bride that comes into the store with an open mind. Of course, every little girl dreams of her wedding and therefore probably has a dress in mind, but I highly recommend to try on even the ‘ugly on the hanger’ dresses. I am just as guilty of this as the next girl, but I have more often fallen in love with a dress that I didnt even want to put on when I saw it on the hanger. When a girl comes in with a fresh mind, clean slate, she might be surprised at a dress when she sees it on.
Describe your NEW store: We are opening our temporary store front on Monday February 1st in an office building. Our PERMENANT store front, which will be done when the weather decides to co-operate with us, is breathtakingly awesome beyond words. It is essentially a house, about 3500 sq ft. (I think). It is 2 floors, hard wood and tile floors. It just, is beautiful. Hence, the name, House of Fashions. We tried to think of everyone that would need accomodated when we looked at the house from a business stand point. You often have the dads or men that accompany a woman during her dress finding, we even have a sitting room for them, haha.
What’s your favorite part of the new store? I think just the size of it. Sometimes I have gone to stores and it just seems cramped and almost cluttered. Hopefully we will never have that problem. It is also very inviting to people. Almost a home-y environment.
What sets your shop apart from the others in your area? We have been there and done that. We chose to start this business because we wanted to offer to women everything that we wanted or needed, and didnt get, when we were in their position. We have experienced two weddings in our family, 4 children worth of school dances and proms, from the male and female side. We have been through 8 years of pageant competing. We certainly wont say we have done it all, but we have been there in the position of a lot of people that would be visiting our store.
What do you pride yourself on? We pride ourself on our honesty, knowledge and just wanting to help people during different milestones in their life. We offer a lot that other stores cant, especially with the custom made wardrobe.
What are you most looking forward to in 2010 with HOF? Every day is exciting and something to look forward to. Even though we have already previewed all of the gowns that we ordered, when we get a box from UPS or FedEx, it is like Christmas all over again. We get so excited when it is box opening time.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST…
Favorite flavor of cupcake:
Oreo cookie!!! Yum!!!
Thanks, Keri!!
xoxo
Lee
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