Nearly 20 years ago when I was finalizing the purchase of Frills, I wrote down two things. First, I crafted a mission statement grounded in my faith and the belief that unconditional acceptance of every person that walked through the doors was the ministry God wanted me to create. The most important ‘job’ I had was to instill in every young woman the belief that she was enough and within her was the confidence she needed to accomplish absolutely anything. A $100 dress or a $10,000 dress wouldn’t change that. Seeing a young woman light up in front of the mirror in a dress she loved was an opportunity for me to tell her that “this dress doesn’t make you beautiful…it simply helps you realize you already were”. God doesn’t care how many dresses I’ve sold over 20 years. What IS important – 50,000 young women have crossed the threshold at Frills over the past 20 years and my sincere prayer is that we made a difference and she left knowing we believed in her, loved her, and accepted her.
Second, I wrote down these words “set yourself up to have the option to retire at 55”. That’s been far more challenging than I expected. Retail is fickle. Every ‘expert’ has an opinion. Far more things are out of your control than you think. You have to be nimble, tireless, and committed…every single day. I’ve learned so much, mostly about myself. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve had some great ‘wins’, and I’ve had the absolute best people alongside me. Over 20 years I’ve employed no less than 600 young women. Every year we have an orientation where I have the privilege of sharing my heart with them and (hopefully) mentoring them in what was often their first job. In that orientation I always share our mission and most years I gave them a copy to keep with their nametag so they could read it every time they worked. One person was there the day I bought the store and has stuck with me until today. Without her, I don’t think I could have made it this far. Erin is now a mommy to the most precious baby girl, Madison. At Erin’s wedding I said in my ‘speech’ that if I had a daughter, I would want her to be exactly like Erin. That is 100% true. She is going to focus her time on being a mom and I couldn’t support her decision more. Being a mom is THE most important ‘job’ she will ever have.
It’s time for me to close Frills. While this decision wasn’t easy, it was part of God’s plan and what’s next for me. I have the greatest sense of peace and calm knowing that I have made the decision that will allow me to go where God is leading me. And I am ready. Over the coming weeks I will share some stories about times and people that have had a lasting impact on me over the past 20 years.
We don’t have an exact date when Frills will close her doors for the last time but it will be this spring. We will keep you posted. In anticipation of that date coming, we will begin marking down all merchandise beginning February 1st. Between February 1st and 10th, every dress in the store will be $300. That includes brand new Spring 2026 dresses, too. No exceptions. With over 1000 dresses in stock between prom, pageant, little girl, wedding, mothers, etc. you have quite the selection. We will announce the schedule for further markdowns before February 10th.
Please know that if you have dresses on order from us, those orders will be fulfilled and we will absolutely make sure your alterations are perfect! All of our vendors are aware and have been extremely gracious so any item that has been ordered will come in and we will take care of you. You will receive the level of service you’ve expected from us over the years and we will not compromise on that.
There’s also some VERY exciting news coming about what’s next for the Frills building. Let’s just say you may not be shopping at Frills, but you’ll be walking into the same ‘type’ of store and I have no doubt you’ll be taken care of…new energy with new ideas and new vision. You’ll hear more about this so stay tuned.
It has sincerely been the honor of my life for the past 20 years to have Frills. There are no words to express my gratitude and love for every single person who came through our doors.
