I started posting about products we were getting in and girls would DM and text. It was very new and it was uncharted with very little expectation. “I got pretty lucky I think trying to build a social media following,” Mance said. Mance recalled back in the early days posting a photo of product and people direct messaging her to buy it. Prism was on Instagram from the beginning and it continues to be the main platform for the retailer. The community Mance has built through Prism has been aided by her social media efforts, which began when she launched the business. But it’s just evolved into something so much bigger.”įootwear at Prism Boutique, including Vans and Dr. “I really did think I would be this tiny business and one of those owners that’s in the store five, six days a week behind the register. “When I told some family ‘I’m leaving my corporate job with my 401(k) and my benefits and I’m going to open my own store,’ they were shocked,” Mance said. And shopping to discover new brands never gets old for Mance. She still gets a high from the women who come into the store and compliment the merchandise mix. “There really have been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of challenges, and so much joy.” I’ve become a mother and had two children during this time and I have some women that have worked for me since the very beginning of this journey,” Mance said. She decided to try a pair of beaded leather Moroccan sandals, placing them in a basket at the store. Matisse Footwear was the first shoe brand to be in the store after Mance was approached by the company about carrying the label. Rolla’s, an Australian denim brand, joined the store about seven years ago and continues to do well. Some brands have been with Prism from the beginning, including Free People and P.F. But I feel like I opened the store and it looked the same as how I had it in my head. Of course, we’ve evolved and fashion trends have changed. It’s always been Mance’s and she knew what she wanted to create from the day she decided to leave her corporate job to open the store. While social media continues to evolve, not much has changed when it comes to the store’s point of view. Unseasonably wet weather in Southern California has dampened sales of spring merchandise, as has the pullback in consumer spending due to rising everyday costs.Īs a result, Mance said she’s not so much focused on growth this year as she is on sustaining the existing business and continuing to be a platform for local and independent artists and other vendors, along with maintaining the community of shoppers she’s cultivated over the past decade.įree People shortall and All Row Mia top at Prism Boutique. Prism officially turns 10 in April, amid a more challenging economic backdrop than more recent years when retailers saw online sales surge. I thought if it didn’t work, I’d just get a job.” I never knew it would turn into this community. “It’s almost like having children in some ways you’re just going day by day. You never think about where it’s going to go long-term,” Mance said. “I think you’re just focused on how you get the doors open and how you’re going to pay your first rent and get product in the store. The shelves in-store and online are stocked with best-sellers such as Rolla’s, Free People, Levi’s, Vans, Baggu, Find Me Now, and Le Bon Shoppe.ĭid she think she’d be here 10 years ago? The flagship Long Beach store, totaling 1,800 square feet, is stocked with apparel, footwear, accessories, home, gifts, and vintage, with Mance’s eye helping build loyalists and a social media following of more than 170,000 across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest. Since then, owner Dayna Mance has remodeled and expanded her Termino Avenue space twice, tried her hand at a store in Costa Mesa (which closed during the pandemic), opened two more outposts within the highly curated Mojave Flea Trading Post, and bought a Yucca Valley house that is used as an Airbnb and event space. Ten years ago, a former manager of Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie stores left her corporate job to open her own store in Long Beach, naming it Prism Boutique. Photo by Alison Bernier Photography.īaggu at Prism. By Kari Hamanaka | Published Mar 29, 2023
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