Dancer’s Choice

First off, the selection here is great, everything is organized, blah blah blah. I have nothing bad to say about the store itself or any of the products. I am an advanced dancer who has spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, on dance wear and shoes. I walked into Dancer’s Choice expecting to be treated as such (a paying customer!).
The customer service I experienced was horrible. From the moment I walked in, I was ignored by the salesperson. No «hello», «how are you», or «can I help you?». Not even a glance in my direction. I was ignored by the salesperson so she could continue her personal conversation with a previous customer, who had already finished her transaction. I asked if I could be helped with some items, and she said she would in a minute, then proceeded to continue her personal conversation. They were talking about their families, etc. as if on a lunch date, when there was a WAITING customer. She kept me waiting for at least 10 minutes so she could continue «shooting the sh*t» with the other customer.
THEN, another woman walks in, and the saleslady proceeded to OFFER HER HELP, when I was still waiting!!! I honestly could not believe it. It was like I didn’t even exist. She started helping a customer who walked in a full ten minutes after me, and I was still waiting. I eventually got the items I needed, but it was so weird the way I was treated when I walked into this store. I never bother leaving Unilocal reviews, but this experience really bothered me.
I’m a full-​time dance major in college, yet I was treated like a peasant. I may not be some rich old mom, but guess what, I would have spent hundreds of dollars here on leotards and warm ups. Now, I will be taking my business elsewhere.

This store has a comprehensive selection of everything that you could possibly need — if not too much! The place is packed to the gills with dance stuff — leotards, shoes, tights, etc. However their prices are spot on with what you will find anywhere else, and they always have plenty of options in stock. I’ve bought many pairs of Jazz and ballet shoes here, and the owner is a master pointe shoe fitter (last time I was in there I even met a woman who had driven up from San Diego just to get the right fit).

We have been visiting Grace since my daughter went en pointe about three years ago. We gladly drive all the way from Riverside to receive the attention Grace has always given us. When we call she immediately knows who is calling, and remembers my daughter’s preferences. In our experience, no one has the variety of shoes that Dancers Choice offers, nor the customer service.

My daughter has been on pointe for more than a year. Because she wears a larger shoe size we have to purchase online or order her size in advance to ship to the local Discount Dance. They recently changed their policy and now ask us to pay in advance for all shoes that we want to try on and then we can return them. This is costly and does not allow us to have a large enough selection for my daughter to be properly fitted.
A friend told us about Dancer’s Choice. I called in advance and they said they had a large selection of my daughter’s size. We drove from San Diego and were not disappointed. Grace took the time to fit my daughter — varying the width, up a size, down a size until they fit perfectly. My daughter was so happy that she finally felt like she had shoes that fit. Until now our local stores just would order in the shoes and she would try them on hoping that one would fit. They didn’t exactly make sure she did.
I appreciate Grace’s attention to detail and for taking the time to make my daughter (and her feet) happy. The store was super busy but Grace and her staff didn’t miss a beat. They know what they are doing. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Grace is an absolutely lovely person to have a shoe fitting with and utterly thorough, precise and professional. She tried many different brands and styles on my tapered toes with wide bunions and could not have been more patient and friendly with me. She took me out of the short-​and-​wide-​boxed style two other fitters had put me in and ultimately came up with a pair of longer-​more-​narrow-​boxed Suffolk Spotlights (a brand I’d never heard of before, but after six weeks I can say that they seem to be the best fit so far). I was also impressed with how well Grace handled the constant flow of customers in and out of the shop, all with widely varying dance needs (from a young ballerina who was obviously a good friend, to a parent on the phone needing to order eight pairs of pointe shoes for her summer intensive-​bound daughter, to a teenaged guy looking for practice garments for his pole dancing class – all seemed to find what they were looking for in this deceptively small-​looking shop!)
16 may 14
Recently, after the mysterious and tragic disappearance from my dance bag of the amazing (and hard-​to-​find!!) pair of bunion protector/​toe spacers Grace had sold me a scant six weeks ago, after an unsuccessful search of every lost-​and-​found, practice space, and nearby local shop, I called Grace. She got my payment and mailing address info over the phone and swiftly shipped me the precious spacers, which arrived in a tidy envelope in my mailbox in about a day and a half to the tune of only $ 15! I can tell you that my online search had turned up only the option of paying twice as much PLUS shipping to order a set of three pairs straight from the company. I can’t imagine what I’d do with three pairs, as I intend to guard my new ones with my life – and a lock on my dance tote. But if these happen to go a-wand’ring again… I know I have only to call Dancer’s Choice.
Many, many thanks, Grace!
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I had absolutely only one issue with DC: I also browsed the interesting variety of dance garb for sale and eventually purchased a $ 50 Danskin leotard from a previous season with attached skirt because it was far and away the most beautiful leotard I had ever seen and in spite of the short skirt it actually was flattering to my pear-​ish shape. It was only available in Medium and unfortunately it was no longer possible to order a different size. I loved it so much I wore it twice before washing it. Not only did I carefully follow the care instructions on the tag, I hand-​washed it with delicate detergent intended for cashmere instead of just putting it on the gentle machine cycle (as recommended) with some Woolite, like my other leotards. It was in water for no more than 30 minutes, then carefully squeezed, not wrung out, and gently rolled up in a towel to partially dry. When partly dry, I hung it (as advised on the tag) up to dry fully. At that point the gorgeous stretch velvet burnout skirt had already noticeably shrunk up above the front crotch of the leotard! I am positive that it was not like that before. I couldn’t believe my eyes and tried it on thinking I was imagining things. Well, the skirt appears longer on, fortunately, but not as long as before. I think I can still wear it as it currently is (and my husband has suggested just soaking it again and then hanging it while soaking to see if it stretches out, but I’m afraid that just getting it wet was the issue) –but I’m afraid to wash it again! I can’t dry-​clean a leotard, can I? Really an issue with Danskin, not Dancer’s Choice; but I don’t think I can return or exchange the leotard. With that said, they have some really cute stuff I had not seen anywhere else, including DDS!

I am a single mom who works four jobs to make dance happen for my daughter. When she made pointe, I had no idea how the fittings went. I was told to go see Grace at Dancer’s Choice for fittings. While she was very friendly, we were rushed and sold a pair of shoes that did not fit my daughter and that her teacher would not allow her to wear.
I went back to try to make good on this huge expense and was told that it was my fault, then the teacher’s fault, and then my daughter’s fault. She then tried to convince bot my daughter and myself that the shoes really did fit and that she would just get used to them. She couldn’t even get them over her heel and winced when en pointe.
I asked if there was any way that she would make this right since it was, in all honesty, her fault. She said no but she would be happy to sell me another pair. I politely declined and quietly walked out of the store $ 80 poorer.
I have been told that this is not the norm and that she is very good at what she does. My experience was just negative and I warn all new pointe students to bring in a teacher for help with proper fitting.
I will be going elsewhere from here on out and unfortunately making recommendations for my friends to do the same…

We drive all the way from San Diego to have Grace do my daughters’ pointe shoe fittings. As a former ballet dancer, she understands the nuances of pointe shoes. We call her «the shoe whisperer.» The store has an excellent selection of leotards, dance shorts and other ballet accessories. Much classier than discount dance.
I only wish that we had known about this store when my girls first went en pointe. Would have saved us a lot of unnecessary pain and wasted time. For something as critical as properly fitting pointe shoes, you really want to use an expert.

This dance apparel store not only conveniently located and easy to get to, but it is extremely cheap. I have compared prices of fellow dance stores all over Socal and the prices are really hard to beat. It is also so close to the 405. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The manager is a young lady who has just finished college so she understands the dance needs of today’s generation. It is my favorite dance store so far.