Footlights Dance & Theatre Boutique is set to close after nearly twelve years in downtown Silver Spring.
An announcement posted at the storefront at 938 Wayne Ave. revealed that the closure is a result of a shift in clientele preference. The majority of their regular clients, who originally resided in the counties that the Silver Spring storefront aimed to serve, now favor traveling to their Frederick location.
The landlord is actively seeking a new tenant to replace Footlights, and as of now, no final day of operation has been announced.
The full text of the announcement is below:
To our Silver Spring Boutique patrons,
We have made the decision to close the Silver Spring Boutique after being here for nearly twelve years. This location has been a special part of our system in the last decade, and a catalyst that launched so many new endeavors, and memories for Footlights. This closure does not mean we’re slowing down or cutting back on our efforts to continue upholding our reputation as a staple in the local performing arts community.
We meticulously studied the evolution of our client’s shopping patterns with Footlights in the last ten years. We factored in the studio closures over the years, and the more recent shift in demands from local studio uniform requirements post-pandemic. We have spent a lot of months analyzing and diving into feedback from local studios, schools and frequent clients as well to come to this decision.
We found that in the last few years, the overwhelming majority our of regular clients that reside in the counties that the Silver Spring storefront was first opened to accommodate, prefer traveling to our Frederick Boutique. Many comment on enjoying the local and unique small-town advantages of Frederick when they visit, including local small restaurants and unique shopping. Many instructors and studios prefer our larger waiting area in Frederick for bigger group fittings, or they themselves have a special bond to our Frederick Boutique being the same place they got fitted for their first pair of pointe shoes years ago. In addition to the advantages in Frederick, our D.C. clients have been taking advantage of our in-studio shopping options, and regularly order their essentials or restocks from our website between studio fittings.
We know that in the long run, this change in our brick and mortar footprint will help us adapt and grow to fit the needs of our clients on a more sustainable and flexible schedule; allowing us the freedom to more regularly bring our services directly to the studio/school on a more personalized basis throughout the region.
At the Silver Spring Boutique, you’ll notice a “for lease” sign in the window as our landlord is actively seeking a tenant to replace us with a new business, and until they have a replacement, we will not have a, “last day date” to share at this time. Which means, we could be in the space for months – or as little as three weeks.
Until a “last day” has been finalized, we are not reducing our staple inventory at the Silver Spring Boutique. The moment a “last day” has been confirmed, we will make additional announcements to the public with our plans for the final weeks leading up to our departure.
We are coordinating with local studios to finalize plans of how we will continue offering our services to the area after the closure to help make a seamless transition for our impacted clients.
These efforts include offering studios/schools the ability to sell merchandise directly to their dancers with supplies from Footlights, in-studio fitting events, and so much more. For studios/schools interested in finding out more about these options, please contact our Director, Ezzie, at [email protected]
From our Frederick Boutique, we will continue our efforts to expand our operations there, as well as online & through remote events.This year, we’ve already made a step forward in this direction by restructuring our current operating hours to fit the most requested days and times from data collected. We will not be stopping there, and have plans to continue to make growth efforts for our availability, reduce our wait times and increase our services in Frederick over the next eighteen months.
To stay actively aware of our updates, and especially those involving the “last day” for Silver Spring, we advise you to subscribe to our emails.
With sincere gratitude,
The Footlights Team
