Growing Through Arts® Retailer: Lori's Dancewear
Lori Cain spent more than 20 years as a professional dancer and dance teacher before she opened Lori’s Dancewear in 2009. And even though she’s no longer teaching, she is still dedicated to inspiring young girls about dance.
“You want to instill in them some part of that passion you had for dance,” Cain says.
That’s one of the reasons that Cain carries Russian Pointe®’s Growing Through Arts® line of Ballet Series books and toys in her store in Beaumont, TX.
The Growing Through Arts® Ballet Series books tell the story of three famous ballets – The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella – and each book includes ballet-themed vocabulary words at the back to help educate children about the world of dance, something that many young children don’t learn about at school or at home.
“Some children learn about that, but I think a lot of little dancers don’t really get that [dance education],” Cain says. “The well-rounded dance experience is what you want to provide.”
When Cain took over Josephine’s Dancewear in 2009, which had been in business for more than 30 years, she gave the store a new name, a new look, and a new emphasis on pointe shoes. Today, the store offers a wide range of pointe shoe options and professional pointe shoe fittings, as well as the latest fashions in leotards, warm ups and gymnastics wear.
Despite the added emphasis on pointe shoes, young ballet dancers are still an important segment of Cain’s customers. “Every little dancer who comes in here is important to us,” she says, adding that the books are a great add-on item for young dancers who come into store to get clothes and shoes. “It was an item they could play with and something they could take away that’s fun.”
Cain says the books have been extremely popular since she started carrying them, and she recently placed a new order of Nutcracker books and toys for the holiday season.
She’s even had dance teachers buy the books to read to their littlest ballet students in class. “I definitely would have used those if they’d had them back in my day,” Cain says.
Cain says she is careful about what ballet-themed gift items she brings into her store because she doesn’t want to carry junk, but she was impressed by the quality of the Growing Through Arts® books and toys.
“They’re unique,” Cain says of the books, which she has prominently displayed in the center of the store, just above a collection of dance bags. “You’re always searching for companies to provide something new in your store, and Russian Pointe® is the only company that provides that tool and does it in a professional way.”