Friday, Nov. 14, 2008

Lining Up for Dots

By RHONDA AGHAMALIAN

For the News-Mirror

Yet another national retailer now calls Mansfield home. Dots, a women’s specialty retailer, opened Nov. 5 at Mansfield Town Center, bringing the development’s total number of tenants to 29.

The Mansfield store kicked off a weekend of grand opening festivities with a fashion party Nov. 4. The cheerfully rowdy event featured a disc jockey, line-dancing sales associates and gift cards for the first 100 guests, all of whom lined up outside well in advance of the opening.

Grand opening activities continued through Sunday, attracting more than 3,000 customers.

"We had a great turnout Thursday through Sunday," said Tanya Johnson, a Dots district manager. "Everyone loved the trendy, fresh merchandise and the 'girlfriend’ approach from our sales girls."

Johnson said that the weekend traffic included both new and return Dots customers.

Dots offers trendy accessories and clothing in sizes 0 to 24 at discount prices.

The Cleveland-based retailer opened more than 20 years ago and is considered a "best-kept secret" by many fashion-conscious women shopping on a tight budget.

"Forty-five percent of our customers shop us every two weeks," said David Minnix, Dots chief store officer. "We call our (core) customer 'diva’. For her, fashion is a priority. She wants choices. With our affordable prices, she can come in and buy three outfits with her $100."

The Mansfield location was one of three Dots stores that opened in the United States last week. Three more stores, including a location in San Antonio, will open this weekend, bringing the chain’s total number to 424. Eighteen are located in the Metroplex.

Despite a sagging economy and industry-wide retail woes, Minnix said that the chain will have opened 33 new stores by the year’s end.

"We’re not only surviving, we’re thriving," he said. "The way we run our business is very nimble. We believe that the economic and retail slowdown is an opportunity for us to see customers we normally wouldn’t see. She (the customer) may be shopping in places she wouldn’t typically shop.

"We’re feeling good about where we’re at," he said.