Small Business Spotlight: Wichita’s Dress Gallery updates its look

The Dress Gallery is all dressed up.

Opened in 2008 by April Huang, the wedding and prom wear store in the Delano neighborhood finished a major renovation last fall, sales manager Jillian Forsberg said.

“We gutted the entire store,” she said. “We wanted to make things more functional for brides.

“Now we have five private bridal suites so families, brides, their entire parties – they don’t see anybody else when they’re in there. That’s unusual for a bridal place in Wichita.”

And why is it important? If you have to ask, you’re probably a man. But Forsberg is patient enough to explain anyway.

Without privacy, “It’s almost like bridal roulette. You’re standing next to a stranger. There’s just not privacy to make the big decision.”

As for prom dresses, privacy doesn’t seem to be as much of a concern. In fact, Dress Galley installed a runway for prom-goers to “strut their stuff on,” Forsberg said.

The store also made some aesthetic improvements, using muted paint colors and installing chandeliers in the suites.

“The comment we’re hearing now is the look finally matches the customer service we provide,” she said. “Before, we’d hear the term ‘shabby chic.’ Now I feel it’s glorious.”

Forsberg said her boss is a native of Taiwan who earned her master’s degree from Pittsburg State, married a Kansan and operated April’s Asian Gifts in Towne East Square before opening the Dress Gallery.

The store keeps regular business hours – expanded slightly now through the end of the high school prom season – but does bridal visits by appointment, to make sure one of its four bridal consultants is available.

Customers are encouraged to visit the shop’s Pinterest page, which Forsberg said is updated daily.

The last time Forsberg counted, the store had about 900 prom dresses on hand.

“And we just got another shipment in yesterday,” she said. “I would say we sell maybe a hundred a week. It’s a lot.”

The store has about the same number of wedding dresses in stock, even though many brides order custom dresses, which take months to deliver.

Forsberg said the hottest trend in prom dresses are two-piece outfits that show “a little sliver of skin in the middle, just over the belly button.”

For brides, it’s “all over the board,” from lace and sparkle to a comeback for ruffles. And rustic weddings featuring brides in boots “are never going away in Kansas.”

The store also rents tuxedos. Gray and navy blue tuxes are growing in popularity on traditional black, Forsberg said.

Huang’s goal in renovating the Dress Gallery was to make it a destination store, “so girls from Wichita didn’t feel like they have to go to Kansas City or even Dallas for a bridal gown,” Forsberg said.

A couple of local firms, Lifeboard Creative and SPT Architecture, did the shop’s re-branding and renovation plans.

Huang didn’t consider moving out of the historic Delano neighborhood along Douglas, where she has a couple of neighbors who come in handy – TJ’s Burgers and La Galette Cafe & Bakery – when customers need just a little more time to decide on a dress.

“They think, ‘Do we want French, or do we want a burger?’ ” Forsberg said. “Then they so come back, so it’s pretty good.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Small Business Spotlight: Wichita’s Dress Gallery updates its look."