Dancing without debt

Store sells dance attire for all ages

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

The Cobb Island resident opened The Little Dance Shop in St. Charles Towne Plaza on Smallwood Drive in July. The 1,300-square-foot shop offers toddlers to senior citizens who love to dance a variety of items, including leotards, tights, tap and ballet shoes, jazz sneakers, hats, gloves, leg warmers, dance shorts and pants, and bags.

"I've been dancing since I was 3 years old and I've been thinking about doing this for a few years," Rayle said. "I figured that there was a need for this type of shop in the community. My goal was to contact all of the studios in the area and find out what they prefer their students to have so that I can stock those items."

Donated dreams: Rayle — who has instructed more than 600 students in dance studios she has operated in the past in the Southern Maryland area for 35 years — said the shop also has a donation room where customers can drop off gently used dance items for use by others who are on a budget.

Her friend Pat Terrel, who helps her run the shop, got the idea to open the donation room, Rayle said.

"It's a nice-sized room and it would be such a waste of space to use it as a dressing room," she said.

"We've gotten a lot of donations so far but we need a whole lot more. Some of the stuff is really nice. A couple of people have come in already to pick up items for Halloween costumes."

Rayle said she would have loved to have a dance shop nearby that stocked just about everything a parent could need for a young dance student when her children were small.

"When my kids were in dance it was so difficult to find apparel," she recalled. "My customers told me that they didn't know that I was here. They think it's a wonderful place. They tell me they're glad that I'm doing this."

Rayle said she figured the time was right to open the shop since her career in real estate was going slowly because of the recession, adding that being in the profession helped her find the perfect spot for the shop.

"Location is very important," she said. "I looked around and nothing hit me. Then I came across this spot. It's a good location in a family shopping center."

Of course, Rayle said, as soon as the shop opened the real estate market began to pick up again.

"Real estate was a little slow so I thought that this would be a good time to open the shop; now the real estate business is booming," she said, laughing. "It's been a balancing act."

In order: The most difficult part of running the shop — which is really a blessing, Rayle admits — is trying to keep enough stock on the shelves.

"There's nothing worse than somebody coming in and not being able to find what they're looking for," she said. "I'm constantly reordering stock."

Rayle said she would like to expand the shop's hours of operation, add more items and perhaps in the future open similar stores in one or two other counties.

It is hard to open a business in the best of times but during a rough economy the task is even more difficult, Rayle said, adding that a person has to really be motivated and love whatever it is he or she plans to do in a new business before venturing into the arena.

"You have to find out what the community needs; that's very, very important," she said. "You have to look around and do your homework."

Opening the dance shop was the right decision, Rayle said.

"I love it," she said. "I'm a people person. I love talking to my customers."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com