BROOKINGS – A dress is something special, almost sacred to some; a means of celebrating a momentous occasion in a wave of fabric.
Harnessing the power of the dress is one of downtown Brookings’ newest stores, Your Special Day, owned by Sheree Heyduk and James Nelson.
From her own daughters, Heyduk knows firsthand how momentous picking out the perfect dress for a special occasion can be. She loves seeing the excitement brimming in a girl’s eyes when they try on a dress and love it.
“I want other girls to experience that, too, and moms to experience that as well. I kind of want to be a part of it again because I know I loved the feeling of it then,” Heyduk said.
It’s also just plain fun to be a small part of their event, whether it’s prom, a quinceanera or a wedding.
“It means a lot to have them go out the door feeling really good about themselves and excited to go to prom or a wedding or wherever,” she said.
Opening her own dress shop has been a long time idea of Heyduk’s that almost didn’t happen. Ten years ago, it was something she and a coworker would talk about doing, thinking it would work well in the area, but it never got beyond that.
Then, a couple months ago, Heyduk’s aunt and cousin, who own a dress shop in Tampa, Fla. – also called Your Special Day – came to her with an offer: They were downsizing their store, and looking to get rid of a bunch of their dresses. They wanted her to open her own store, and offered her the perfect means of doing so.
“It was a good fit for the town, I thought. They had been thinking about it because they travel back here for summer to visit family and thought what a great idea to have a store here,” Heyduk said. “My cousin had thought about moving back here, but my aunt is now 92, so South Dakota weather doesn’t agree with her. So she kind of gave up the idea of moving back up here and having a shop. They knew I had retail experience and thought why not pass it on to the family.”
It meant taking a 24-hour drive down to Florida to pick up 317 dresses; a grueling trip, but well worth the work.
“We were excited, so it didn’t seem like long,” Heyduk said.
From start to finish, it’s been a wickedly quick run to get the store opened on Saturday, March 4. Work on remodeling the store began Feb. 15, the day after they signed the lease. They repainted the interior and redid the floor.
With their speed run to Florida two weeks later and the store opened the week after, it’s been a hectic few weeks.
The big push to get the store done and opened was so that they could give customers enough time ahead of their proms, which often begin in April.
But now the store is ready, offering tuxes and gowns for any and every occasion calling for formal attire: “We have quinceanera dresses, we have sweet 16 dresses, prom dresses, bridesmaids dresses, mother of the bride dresses, evening dresses.”
And there will be accessories on hand, too.
Soon, in-house alterations will be added.
Heyduk encouraged people to come check out their business and support a local business. “If I promise you I’m going to special order something, I’m going to get it in for you. I’m not going to make promises I can’t keep. I’m not going to sell you something that isn’t of quality. We’re really going to go out of our way to make the customer happy. We think that we have a good store. We have a good product and we just hope everyone thinks so, too.”
Located downtown at 404 Main Ave., the store’s hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
