Só Dança’s current transfer from South Florida to Moultrie, Georgia, represents a pivotal second within the evolution of one of many world’s most beloved dance manufacturers. After almost three a long time based mostly in Miami, the corporate has relocated its U.S. headquarters and distribution operations to an 80,000-square-foot facility that guarantees larger effectivity, expanded functionality and renewed power for the model and the broader dance business. Moultrie, lengthy identified for its sprawling cotton and peanut farms, has now emerged as a major hub inside the American dance business.
Within the lead-up to Christmas, Dance Informa had the privilege of visiting Moultrie and the brand new state-of-the-art services to sit down down with Só Dança America CEO Lisias Ransan, and benefit from the city’s charming historic downtown.
Ransan shared that the choice to maneuver was each strategic and sensible. “We’d been in South Florida for nearly 30 years, and issues modified quite a bit there. We had been searching for a location that might be extra strategic for us to be in and would make financial sense for us to take a position,” he defined. South Florida, he famous, is “farther from the rest in the USA,” which makes nationwide distribution much less environment friendly. “Right here in Georgia, we reduce one-day transport all over the place. We’re capable of serve virtually 17 states subsequent day or second day!”
Local weather and geography additionally performed an surprising position. When exploring choices in Texas and Kentucky, the workforce weighed not solely logistics however high quality of life. “We didn’t wish to go to a location the place the winter can be an issue for us,” Ransan recalled. Moultrie provided a stability: accessible, temperate and – crucially – a spot that “fitted like a glove” as soon as the whole lot was considered.
What shocked him most, nonetheless, was the reception. “Once we bought right here, the folks had been so pleasant, the open doorways had been phenomenal. I couldn’t imagine it,” he stated. Inside 5 to 6 months, the corporate had renovated the warehouse, assembled operations and moved in. “The disruption for our shops was minimal compared to what it may have been.”
The transfer concerned not only a firm but additionally a group of workers. “Now we have 5 households that got here with us,” Ransan shared. These households, together with youthful employees of their early 20s, settled shortly. “They had been capable of finding the whole lot they wanted.”
Even two households initially from Rio fortunately relocated with the corporate. “They love seashores,” he laughed, “however now they are saying, ‘I’m so glad right here!’”
Ransan is keenly conscious of the duty that comes with that native embrace. “Folks come right here to see us, see how we’re doing, if we’d like something. Folks cease on the street and discuss to you. This isn’t what I’m used to,” he admitted. “I wish to give again to the city as a lot as they’re giving to us. That’s my purpose.”
The extra house and operational effectivity are already fuelling important product improvement. Certainly one of Só Dança’s most anticipated improvements is the following era of the Alina pointe sneakers, years within the making and formed by intensive testing, suggestions, and an unwavering dedication to innovation. “We’re engaged on a brand new pointe shoe, and I imagine we’re lastly capable of introduce one thing actually totally different to the market,” stated Ransan. “Whereas Alina I and II had been exceptionally properly acquired, we acknowledge that no single pointe shoe can serve each dancer. Alina III and IV are designed to fill a essential hole within the Alina line, providing new options to satisfy the evolving wants of as we speak’s dancers.”
“We even have a brand-new pre-pointe shoe referred to as Bloom, developed as an integral a part of this line. Designed with the identical becoming philosophy, Bloom encourages dancers, academics, and retailers to suppose exterior the field in terms of pre-pointe coaching and development. This launch is particularly thrilling for us and our retail companions, as Bloom presents a extremely progressive answer with very favorable prices and robust margins, making it as good from a enterprise standpoint as it’s from a coaching perspective.”
None of it, he confused, occurred in isolation. Retail companions performed a key position. “We had a whole lot of merciful retailers. They had been capable of work with us, discuss to us and train us. This fruit of what we’re placing collectively now’s a group that’s working collectively.”
Past pointe sneakers, Só Dança’s broader product portfolio continues to anchor the model. “I feel our split-sole shoe SD16 is probably the most offered shoe on the planet as we speak,” Ransan famous. The studio-uniform line has additionally turn into a significant pillar, valued for its high quality, vary of sizes and “phenomenal” shade choices. He pointed to the aisles and aisles of product in Moultrie: “The amount we’ve got… that’s one thing that individuals take pleasure in.”
Strategic collaborations additional differentiate the model. Ransan lit up when speaking about Só Dança’s ambassadors. Of Tiler Peck, he stated merely, “Tiler is phenomenal.” The partnership, he believes, displays a deep alignment of values. “I can say that she suits in with the best way we’re. She’s not pretentious. What you see is what you get, and we love that.”
Equally, he praised Lacey Schwimmer as “so artistic,” noting that her line “is doing extraordinarily properly.” Bringing artists like Tiler, Lacey, Derick Grant and Aaron Tolson collectively, he stated, works as a result of “they match, there’s belief, and we love one another.”
Ransan can be aware of the shifting realities of the retail panorama. “The way in which you probably did enterprise two years in the past isn’t the identical manner you do enterprise now,” he shared. “Stability isn’t the phrase for this yr,” he stated with a smile, referencing the present retail local weather. On this setting, he sees Só Dança’s position as a gradual companion for retailers. “As a lot as we are able to, we attempt to make it extra degree for the retailers and have readability in how we act – no surprises.”
That philosophy underpins investments in techniques, stock and retailer help. “We’ve put a whole lot of funding into the system, from stock management to the knowledge that they might want,” he defined. “It isn’t one factor, however a whole lot of small issues that we put collectively to make a distinction.”
Via all this modification, Ransan insisted that Só Dança’s core stays regular. “The essential factor for the market is to grasp that it doesn’t matter how a lot it adjustments, our character is all the time the identical,” he stated. “What we had been, what we’re, and so long as I’m right here, that’s the place we’re going to be.”
His personal story mirrors that fidelity mixed with boldness. When he first got here from Brazil in 1997, the household plan was to attempt the U.S. for 2 years. “After two years, if we favored it, we might keep,” he recalled. In August 1997, Ransan arrived along with his spouse, three youngsters and the household canine. The deliberate two years quietly turned a long time. “We by no means talked about it,” he stated, “we simply stored doing what we beloved.”
At present, standing inside Só Dança’s expansive Moultrie facility, he feels an analogous sense of momentum. “There are such a lot of areas we are able to develop and make investments,” he stated. “I’m wanting ahead to what’s coming… The very best is but to return!”
For the dance group – retailers, academics and dancers alike – Só Dança’s new chapter represents a significant funding in the way forward for the artwork type.
By Deborah Searle of Dance Informa.
