Sandy's Shoes and Dancewear
Randy Boyse, proprietor of Sandy's Shoes and Dancewear, has a staff that has been with him for twelve years, sixteen years, for a few months and everything in between. Randy says that it takes two years to learn the business of leotards and tights, and lots of time to learn how to fit shoes properly.
Sandy's is located in the Casa View section of east Dallas, Texas near the suburb communities of Garland and Mesquite. Sandy's celebrated fifty years in business in October 2006. The business has been the same intersection - although not in the same building - for these fifty years. A second location was opened in 2004 in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas.
The displayed shoes seem an endless variety of styles and shapes: jazz, tap, ballet, flamenco, folklorico, lyrical, dance sneakers and clogging. For example, there are forty styles of women's ballroom shoes. The inventory in the back of the store has row after row of pointe shoes on floor-to-ceiling shelves. They carry 34 styles of pointe shoes and currently have 1,800 pairs in stock.
Randy relates the industry statistic: a woman will buy seven pairs of shoes while a man will purchase three pairs in the same amount of time.
Pointe shoe fittings can take ten minutes, a half-hour or all afternoon. The dancer may have one foot larger than the other. Which toe pad feels best? The shape and width of the foot? The young dancer needs a soft shank to get up on pointe; otherwise, she will become discouraged. Only the dancer knows how the shoe feels.
Nowadays most teachers wait until the girl is around twelve years old to begin pointe work. The feet need to be strong enough or she cannot arch the shoe. The fine line of preparing the progressing student without harming her is of utmost importance.
When an adult wants to be fitted in pointe shoes, Randy carefully explains the dangers of first-time pointe work - the possibility of torn ligaments or ruptured tendons. Sometimes dreams cannot come true . . .
A large sign is displayed over the fitting area:
"Notice
"Due to an increasing problem with catalog and internet ordering of Pointe Shoes, we at Sandy's want to stress the value of the time spent fitting each pair of shoes. We are trying to avoid charging a fee to fit shoes, but should the problem persist, we will be charging a fee."
Sandy's Shoes have had customers drive two hundred miles or more to Dallas to get their pointe shoes. One girl whose family had moved out-of-state made a 1,000 mile trip with her mother to be fitted. She told Rachael Green that she just could not find the same comfort and dependability elsewhere. Randy still doesn't believe that shopping for pointe shoes was the only reason for the trip.
Trends in styles of dancewear change. This year pink and brown are in. Randy says customers comment on how adorable that new pink leotard with the brown trim is and then ask,
"Where are your black leotards?"
Colors make black look better. Each store devotes time and energy to their merchandising to catch the customer's eye.
Ballet schools with Royal Academy of Dance curriculum, for example, will have a dress code that includes colors by level. Generally dance studios are divided into two camps: one is the emphasis in jazz where students can choose what she wears. The other is the ballet school where all students are in black with pink tights or young students in pink leotards and pink tights and older girls in black. The hair must be pulled back.
Earl Boyse opened a regular family shoe store in 1956. For three weeks the store was called Randy's. Then Mr. Boyse received a call from the attorney representing Randy Tennis Shoe Corporation advising him that they owned the rights to the name. Mr. Boyse called the sign guys and had them take down the "R" and substitute an "S." (The next year the tennis shoe people went out of business.) Randy's mother, Alice Boyse, kept the books in 1956 and still does today.
In 1960, Olivia Crutchfield was directing a dance studio in the same shopping center.
"One of the ladies who worked for my dad said that he should add a specialty. My dad reluctantly added dance shoes. The inventory was one style ballet shoe, two styles of jazz shoes, one patent leather tap shoe, a tap shoe with one ?" heel and two styles of pointe shoes. If you wanted to see a leotard, you had to ask for it. That inventory was kept behind the wall."
The first pair of ballet shoes sold for $7.00!
Randy says his father thought that he did not have the personality for retail. He "ran stock" for his dad during summer. Randy was the "shy guy" during his high school days. When his father semi-tired, Randy found his "work attitude" and "let it all pour out."
The Cash Register from 1956 - which is lovingly referred to as the Good Luck cash register - is still in operation. Although electric, the factory at that time made the same machine with a pull crank. The staff has to know how to make change No computers are in the front of the store. Handwritten tickets and quick turns at the cash register serve five or six people at a time.
Sandy's Shoes and Dancewear participate in about six festivals and conventions each year. When a show, competition or festival allow vendors, Sandy's Shoes and Dancewear attends.
Randy talks with teachers and studio owners to find their needs. A huge handwritten chart in the back lists studio requirements for clothing and shoes. Every autumn Randy loads up the van and sets up an afternoon mini-store in about 12 - 15 different dance schools. He brings inventory to the students and does shoe fittings as well.
The expertise of the staff at Sandy's often leads to a parent requesting a reference for a "good place to study dance." Randy does not make recommendations and suggests that the family attend a recital or program to decide if what they see matches their ideas. His role is to assist the dance educator, not play favorites.
Randy Boyse's hands-on management philosophy is summed up,
"If you can't run it yourself, don't do it." Randy admits he admires dance schools with strong organizational skills.
This family run business has a friendly and knowledgeable staff: Jennifer Green, Rachael Green, Megan Smith, and Joeanna Cooper. Kim Alexander manages the Plano store; the staff includes Julie Torres, Blake Boyse, Pique Shankle, Suzi Cranford and Jennifer Moore.
www.sandysdancexpress.com (Note: Only one "e" between dance & express)
2211 Gus Thomasson Rd., Dallas, TX 75228; 214-321-1764; 800-700-1764
Amanda Stone is involved in the dance community in the Dallas, Texas area.