We were lucky to catch up with Hannah Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Dresses Ever After is a local dress shop located in Hinckley, Minnesota. The main thing that sets us apart from the typical big-box dress store is that all of our dresses can be either bought or rented. Many in our community live on a budget and we don’t want girls and women to have to decline invites to formal events because they can’t afford a dress. As a business owner, I want to change that.

I have yet to hear of another in-person formal dress shop that you can have the full shopping experience of tying on different dresses along with the option to rent or buy the dress. There are online rental companies, but that isn’t ideal in my community and it takes away the fun from getting to try on the dress and see what we have to offer in person.

Another thing that sets us different from the industry standard is how much we value and remember our customers. Planning a big event whether its prom, a pageant, a wedding, or any other formal event, I understand that it can be stressful. I want to do what I can to take some stress away. All of our rented dresses are cleaned and steamed prior to being picked up to ensure that they are in the best quality. Plus, I am always available to help and only one text away! This is something that I have heard many times over the years that customers greatly appreciate.

Hannah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Dresses Ever After offers formal dresses to girls and women that can be bought or rented. Our store has over 220 dresses ranging in size from 0 to 26 because everyone deserves to find a dress they love and feel beautiful in. Dresses Ever After was started in 2020 by Hannah Davis while she was in her senior year of high school. The idea started out of jealousy when her prom date mentioned that he was able to rent his tux for the dance, but she was left saving every penny to buy her dress that she would only wear one day. Creating more opportunities for women in her community to be confident and feel beautiful is one of her main missions with Dresses Ever After.

I am most proud of the wonderful young women that I get to help. I love hearing how much they appreciate spending less for the dress of their dreams and that what I am doing is really making a positive impact in their lives.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being my authentic self. I love helping others and believe that what comes around goes around. Dresses Ever After was started to help the women in my community and with keeping that as the main mission of the business, the women that we help can see that they are valued and loved the second they walk in the door. When you treat people well and truly care about others, those customers talk which brings more attention and future customers to your business.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There is always a good side to everything that happens in your life! My first year open was 2020 and within the first few months of being open, all of my prom rentals were canceled due to the pandemic. At first, it was devastating, like losing the race before it event started. Now, I am so grateful that everything happened the way it did because when schools across the country were canceling prom, there weren’t girls to buy the millions of prom dresses that were made. Dress suppliers had great sales to get rid of their high inventory which allowed me to grow as quickly as I did. Without this experience, I wouldn’t have been able to increase my own inventory, bringing a better selection of dresses to my customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dresseseverafter.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/DressesEverAfter
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DressesEverAfter

Image Credits
Hannah Davis