The owner of Bottoms Up Dance Boutique in downtown Okemos has announced the business is closing at the end of next month.
Founder and owner Sherry Fischer says the decision to close came when she received an offer on the property and decided, after 40 years, it was time to retire.
A dancer herself, Fischer started Bottoms Up because she saw a real need for a good local dancewear store. She believes they have served the community well.
“I feel we were really the heartbeat of the dance and theater community because we tried so hard to have everything that everybody needed, and we just listened and tried to treat our customers royally all the time, it’s easy when you love what you’re doing.”
Chris Buck is the economic development director for Meridian Township. They adopted a master plan last November which asks for a mixed-use development project in downtown Okemos.
Buck says Bottoms Up has been a fantastic retailer in the community and he hates to see them go, but that their closure might open the area up for new development.
“The goal I think would be for that area to have kind of a quaint, charming village-like experience where you’d have a mix of residential, office, retail uses all in that same four or five block area.”
Sherry Fischer says Bottoms Up plans to stay open until the end of May.
