Nixon's has sold formalwear in Santa Rosa County since 1977, and Pace families have been starting prom shopping on its racks for decades. The shop on West Spencerfield Road keeps its pitch simple. The dress, the date's tux, the shoes and the jewelry all hang under one sign.
The store backs that up, presenting Nixon's as the local source for special occasions, women's apparel and tuxedo rentals. It also spells out its reach: Santa Rosa County first, then Escambia and Okaloosa, plus shoppers from Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. For a shop in a town the size of Pace, that is a wide net. It is also believable to anyone who has lived on this side of northwest Florida, where the state line is never far and a good formal shop draws from both sides of it.
A prom floor built around big names
Prom is the headline here. The store leads with prom and homecoming collections, and its featured designers read like a list of what seniors are already saving to their phones: Sherri Hill, Ashley Lauren, Amarra, Johnathan Kayne, Ava Presley, Portia & Scarlett and Primavera Couture. The store goes further and calls them award-winning designers.
Price range is spelled out too. The store prices gowns from $99 to around $950 and suggests a phone call for specifics.
Prom sizes listed
000 to 36
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The store lists prom sizes from 000 up to 36.
The same lineup carries into homecoming, which gives freshmen and sophomores a reason to know the shop well before their junior year. The appointment form even lists Mardi Gras as a shopping interest. Anyone who grew up around Pensacola knows why. Ball season runs right up against prom season here, and a shop that dresses both is a shop that stays busy from January on.
Walk-ins are fine, and the store answers the appointment question with a flat no.
No. You can make an appointment for a more customized experience, but you can walk in at any time!
The booking form asks for budget, event date and how many people are coming, and it notes comfortable seating for four guests. Filling it in ahead of a busy spring Saturday gives the staff a head start on pulling dresses in your range.
Tuxes, accessories and paying for it all
The tux side is a real department, not an afterthought.
Tuxedo rentals
Through Jim's Formal Wear
Range
A large variety of high-end rental options, plus fashion tuxes
Measuring
In the store, or call the measurements in
The accessory wall covers rhinestone belts, jewelry, gloves, shoes, ties and suspenders, so both halves of a prom couple can leave finished.
The store lays out its payment terms clearly.
Payment options
Cash, credit cards, Afterpay and layaway.
Layaway
Traditional layaway requires one quarter down.
Special orders
Half to place the order, the rest when the dress arrives.
Military discount
10% on all purchases and tuxedo rentals.
That military discount means something in Santa Rosa County. NAS Whiting Field sits up in Milton, and many local prom budgets are military family budgets.
Brooke and Kevin Jackson and their family now own Nixon's, and they promise to keep the original core values in place: excellent customer service and the latest in formalwear. The shop has a customer gallery where shoppers can submit their own photos, which is a nice way to see how the gowns actually look on local students.
The customer base is easy to map. Pace High School students live closest. Milton High and Navarre High students come from elsewhere in the county, Gulf Breeze High families come up from the south end of the county, and Tate High shoppers cross over from Cantonment. For most of them, Nixon's means trying on Sherri Hill and Ashley Lauren and booking the tux at the same counter.
Nixon's on alterations
Does Nixon's do alterations in the store?
No. The store says alterations are not done on site, but the staff can refer you to several local alteration experts. Build that time into your plan before prom.