Madison Olivet was 17 when she went to market, picked her own dress lines and opened Madison Avenue in 2015. She has since married and moved away. Her mother, Melanie Greene, bought the business, and the two still work side by side, far enough into the trade that they now create their own dress line. The shop lives inside The Richmond Mall on the Eastern Bypass and keeps its focus tight, with every page of its website carrying the same three words of specialty: prom, pageant and custom designs.
The About page ends with a promise aimed squarely at the range of shoppers who come through the door, and it is written in the store's voice.
Our desire at Madison Avenue is that every woman or girl that comes into our store walks out feeling like a Princess, regardless of economic demographic or size range, because we understand that half of the journey to the perfect gown is the experience of getting there.
The labels at the Richmond Mall shop
The shop's Our Designers menu is built almost entirely around prom and pageant. These are the lines it names, with the categories the shop files them under.
- Ava Presley
- Prom and homecoming, including the short styles featured on the homepage
- Primavera Couture
- Prom, Curvy Plus prom, homecoming, plus-size shorts and evening
- ASHLEYlauren
- Prom, plus ASHLEYlauren Kids for young pageant girls
- Johnathan Kayne
- Prom, plus Johnathan Kayne for Sydney's Closet
- Samantha Blake, Colors Dress, Tease Prom, Sydney's Closet
- Prom and homecoming
- Sugar Kayne
- Children's and toddler pageant
Size range is where the About page promise shows up in the stock.
The size search
00032
From 000 to 32 and on through 14W to 32W, with long and short plus-size prom each in a category of its own rather than a corner of the main rack.
There is even a Dresses with Pockets section. Featured styles on the homepage recently ran from just under $300 to $515, with an Ava Presley short dress at the top of that band. Homecoming gets the same attention, with Ava Presley, Primavera and Sydney's Closet each keeping a homecoming collection on the site.
Customs, capes and one-of-a-kinds
The third word in that specialty line gets real space. A Customs / One of a Kinds category holds gowns that sit outside the regular designer runs, and the owners' own dress line sits beside it. An Overskirts/Capes category lets a pageant gown or a prom dress change shape between events, which suits a contestant who needs one gown to do two jobs, or a senior who wants her homecoming look to come back different in the spring.
Pageant is the other half of the name. Little Girl Pageant has its own category, ASHLEYlauren Kids and Sugar Kayne Toddlers cover the youngest contestants, and an evening section serves the adult titles.
Planning a visit takes a few clicks. The homepage sorts the floor into tiles for homecoming, prom, kids, pageant and evening, and a door-to-door directions tool on the contact page plots a route to the shop from your own address. The Online Sales Policy treats a gown bought on the website differently from one bought in the mall.
At The Richmond Mall
Bought in the store
- The catalog filters for dresses physically in the store, so a style and size can be checked before leaving home
- In-store prices can differ from what the website shows
Through the website
Priced at the label's suggested retail
- The designers require it, per the policy page
- The store contacts every buyer before billing to confirm the size against the designer's chart
- It also makes sure the gown will arrive in time for the wear date
For a prom group splitting up the shopping, the in-store stock filter is the tool to share.
Madison Central High School in Richmond and Madison Southern High School in Berea are the two big public high schools in the county, and Model Laboratory School on the Eastern Kentucky University campus and Berea Community School add smaller senior classes. Estill County High School in Irvine, Garrard County High School in Lancaster and Rockcastle County High School in Mount Vernon are all within reach for families across Madison County, Kentucky and the counties around it, and the Eastern Bypass connects with I-75 on Richmond's south side.
Madison Avenue shopping questions
How far does the size range go?
From 000 through 32, plus 14W through 32W, with separate long and short plus-size prom categories and a Primavera Curvy Plus prom line.
Can Madison Avenue make a custom gown?
Custom designs are one of the three specialties the store lists alongside prom and pageant, and the owners design their own line. Ask about timing early, since a custom piece takes longer than an off-the-rack dress.