Lasting Impressions Formal Wear started in 2000 on South Eufaula Avenue, in the historic district of a small town on Lake Eufaula. The About page describes those first days as modest beginnings, built on customer service, good product and investing in the hometown. Columbus and Dublin came later. Eufaula is the shop where the company's name was made.
The company's own telling of how word spread is the most local thing on its site.
It might be a simple pass through as they were heading to the beach for Spring Break, or a visit to granny's, but quickly the store made a name for itself not only in prom, but also in the pageant world.
2000
Lasting Impressions opens in Eufaula's historic district
2006
A second store opens in Columbus, Georgia
2022
A third store opens in downtown Dublin, Georgia
2025
The Eufaula store gets a complete interior renovation in the fourth quarter
How a Barbour County shop became the Sherri Hill address
Eufaula earned its reputation by going deep on one label. The About page says the store became the go-to location for Sherri Hill prom and pageant gowns by stocking the largest selection in the area. That was the store's bet, and the company still leans on it.
The website shows how far. Roughly nine of every ten prom styles it flags as in store are Sherri Hill. Rachel Allan is a distant second, followed by Johnathan Kayne and a few Alyce Paris pieces. That in-store flag covers the company, not one shop, so it does not say which rack in which town holds a given gown. Still, if Sherri Hill is the label on your list, you are shopping where this company's whole story began.
The full online catalog goes much wider, since the site shows designers' complete collections. Staff can special order from them when a style is not on the floor, though the returns policy warns that a size or color can sell out at the designer during peak season.
The late-2025 rebuild on South Eufaula Avenue
In the last quarter of 2025, the Eufaula store went through a complete interior renovation. Since then, per the About page, it has specialized in prom, cocktail, social event and pageant dresses, along with what the company calls cross-over dresses. Prom is the first word on that list.
Columbus is now the company's largest store and its flagship for couture and pageant. Eufaula is the original, and the renovation gave it a fresh floor to match. The company's line about prom girls applies here as much as anywhere: they are "a vital part of our success story," in its words.
Layaway on a 14-day rhythm
The layaway program is free for prom, pageant and social occasion dresses, and its rules are spelled out in the returns policy. It covers in-stock dresses. You put 25% down as the first payment. After that, a payment is due every 14 days from the original purchase date.
Purchase day
25% down holds an in-stock dress
Every 14 days
A payment, counted from the purchase date
By day 60
Paid in full, and before the wear date or alterations
Pick up
The deadline is firm. If a layaway is not paid off after 60 days, the policy says the deposit and past payments are forfeited and the dress goes back on the sales floor. The balance also has to be cleared before the wear date or before alterations begin, whichever comes first, and layaway payments themselves are final. Count back from your prom and from your seamstress's calendar before you put anything down.
Lake Eufaula, the state line and the store's clock
Eufaula sits on the Alabama shore of Lake Eufaula, with Georgia across the water and Georgetown on the far side of the bridge. Eufaula High is the hometown school, and Barbour and Henry county families have the Columbus store to the north as well. Look for more shops in southeast Alabama on our Alabama page.
One detail trips up visitors from the Georgia side. The website lists the Eufaula hours in Central time, while the Columbus and Dublin hours are posted in Eastern time. Eufaula opens Monday through Friday from noon to 6 and is closed Sunday. The footer gives Saturday as 10 to 2, while the appointments page shows 10 to 5, so confirm before you plan a late Saturday visit.
Eufaula store questions, from layaway to the time zone
What happens if my Eufaula layaway runs past 60 days?
The policy is strict. The dress returns to the sales floor for anyone to buy, and the deposit and every payment already made are kept by the store.
Which time zone are the Eufaula hours in?
Central. The other two stores post their hours in Eastern time, so a noon opening in Eufaula falls at 1 p.m. on a Columbus clock.
How do I book the Eufaula store specifically?
The appointment form has a "Prom - Eufaula" interest, and the site asks you to name the location in the comments as well.
Can two girls from my school end up in the same gown?
Not the same style in the same color, if both buy in the store. Lasting Impressions registers prom purchases made in person against the school or event.