New shop for formal dresses, suits opens at Kelso mall

Owner Crystal Martinson said the newly opened Twirl Formalwear Outlet offers low prices and “a massive selection” of new inventory.

Customers are appreciative of the local option to buy dresses for special occasions, from high school dances to graduations to formal dinners.

“… I have girls walk into the store and gasp, or hear ‘this is the happiest place on earth,’ or ‘where was this when I was in school?’ I’m hearing that so much,” Martinson said. “Everyone is hoping that we’re around for a long time.”

The shop specializes in formal dresses — including wedding dresses — and suits.

All of the formalwear dresses and suits are priced under $100, and all of the wedding dresses cost under $300.

Now, shoppers don’t have to drive to Vancouver or Portland, or make purchases online without trying on their selections — problems Martinson said she’s heard often.

“Sometimes, I’m hearing girls will buy up to 10 dresses online, and it will take weeks for them to arrive. They may not even look like the photo, or fit once they arrive. So, they return nine out of the 10 dresses they bought,” she said. “If people come to the mall locally, they can spend hours in the store, and try on as many dresses as they want, to find one they like, and they don’t have wait weeks, or spend the money upfront to buy 10 dresses.”

Martinson is a veteran. She served in the United States Air Force from 2008 to 2015.

She grew up in Vancouver, but her family lives in Longview. After the pandemic, she moved back to the area to be close to them.

Initially, Martinson started selling her own new clothes on reseller sites online. Then, she started looking at having her own website, sourcing from wholesalers and liquidators.

“The more inventory I was getting, it occurred to me that for the cost of storage for all of my inventory, I could just be open,” she said. “So, over the past couple of months, I’ve been hosting pop-ups in Cowlitz County for wedding dresses and prom dresses, and there was a huge response from the community. There was a lot of participation, and with all of that encouragement, I decided to go ahead and open a store.”

Martinson said looked for a physical store location for about a year.

During that time, she began accumulating everything needed to open the business, from clothing racks to a front desk.

Once she got the keys, she said, “it’s been full speed ahead since day one.” The store’s grand opening was Oct. 5.

She said she chose to open in the mall due to the support from fellow owners in the building.

“… That’s not something you have in other locations, where it’s a standalone store,” she said. “Ultimately, it was that community of all the other store owners in the mall that solidified my decision. It’s not franchises in the mall, it’s mostly owner-operator stores …”

Martinson said the name of the store — Twirl Formalwear Outlet — reflects on the moment of happiness when a customer finds the perfect dress or suit.

“I was trying to come up with a name that people would think of when they find a dress that makes them happy,” Martinson said. “People shop around for formalwear, especially for dresses, whether it’s a wedding dress, or for another special occasion, and there’s always this moment where someone finds a dress they really like, and they start to twirl in it in the mirror.”

Ultimately, Martinson said her goal is to offer a huge selection of styles, colors, designs and sizes.

She said she hopes to eliminate several girls wearing the same dresses at dances with the help of her large selection.

The store also carries a variety of sizes, from men’s suites in size XXS to size 6XL, and women’s dresses from size 0 to 28, so anyone can find the formalwear of their dreams.

“A lady needed a dress for a 50th birthday party, and she was able to get it in a size 26. She couldn’t find a dress anywhere else,” Martinson said. “She had multiple choices of colors and styles. She found a dress, and she started twirling in the store.”