Pink Willow started as an everyday clothing boutique on West Main Street, the kind of shop where a sweater, a candle and a birthday gift end up in the same bag. Formal wear is a bigger part of the picture now. The prom and formal dresses have a storefront of their own on the same downtown block, and the shop's website sends anyone browsing long and short formals to that second store with a simple note: there are more options in person than online. For a Duplin County girl shopping prom, that's the address that counts.
Marla Jarman opened Pink Willow in May 2020, with her husband, son and daughter helping get the doors open through the uncertain first months of Covid. Her daughter Morgan now manages the boutique. It's a family business in a small town, and the About page sounds like one.
What's in the formal store
The formal racks lean on three names you'll recognize from any prom search. The site's product listings name Ashley Lauren, Ava Presley and Jovani, and the gowns are written up as dresses meant for proms, pageants, galas and formal events. Sydney's Closet adds fuller ballgown shapes, and at least one quinceañera ballgown has turned up in the collection too.
Prices are posted online, which helps when you're setting a budget at the kitchen table. Most short formal dresses fall between about $250 and $480. Long gowns center around $500, with most between roughly $350 and $750 and a few beaded showpieces climbing past $1,000. That's a wide enough range to cover a sophomore's first formal and a senior's last one.
Pink Willow is a business built on one owner's long-held hope.
It's always been a dream of mine to own and operate a boutique and I am so thankful to bring this dream to life in downtown Wallace!
Marla Jarman wrote that on the shop's About page.
There's one policy to understand before you fall for a dress. Every formal purchase is final: long or short formal dresses, and the shoes, jewelry and accessories bought with them, can't be refunded or exchanged. The everyday boutique side allows exchanges, but the formal side does not. Make your decision in the fitting room, not in the car on the way home. Bring your most trusted opinions on the first trip, and try the dress in your actual prom heels.
Prom shopping in a small downtown
Wallace is a Duplin County town, and its downtown is home to the Carolina Strawberry Festival every spring and Christmas at Twilight in December. Both pack West Main, so if your shopping trip lands on a festival weekend, plan for a busier street and park a block or two over.
The closest high school is Wallace-Rose Hill in Teachey, a few minutes up the road. Farther out are James Kenan in Warsaw and Pender County schools like Pender High in Burgaw and Heide Trask in Rocky Point. For a lot of students in this part of eastern North Carolina, a downtown shop with Jovani and Ashley Lauren on the rack means the dress search can start close to home.
Pink Willow does not post an appointment policy for the formal store, so stopping in during open hours is the usual way to shop. Shoppers coming from Burgaw or Warsaw can phone the formal store to check what's on the floor.
Prom questions about Pink Willow
Which designers does Pink Willow carry for prom?
The shop's formal listings include Ashley Lauren, Ava Presley, Jovani and Sydney's Closet. The formal store on West Main carries more styles than the website shows.
Can I return or exchange a prom dress?
No. All formal purchases, including dresses, shoes, jewelry and accessories, are final sale with no refunds or exchanges.