Most stores that carry Jovani and Mac Duggal are boutiques — one room, racks sorted by designer, an appointment book at the door. The Winner is not that. It is a full department store at 32 W State St in downtown Sharon, and prom is one department in a much larger building.
The store’s own listing describes three floors and more than 75,000 square feet of merchandise, a separate bridal floor, and dressing-room attendants on staff. Alongside the eveningwear it stocks sportswear, careerwear, cruisewear and swimwear in petite, missy and women’s sizes. The same listing says the store has served the Shenango Valley and the surrounding area for more than twenty years.
The designer labels that are confirmed here
These nine brands list The Winner on their own official retailer locators, which is the strongest evidence available that the labels are stocked in the building rather than ordered in:
- Jovani
- Mac Duggal
- Faviana
- Clarisse
- Alyce Paris
- Amarra
- Colette
- Tiffany Designs
- Dave & Johnny
That is a wide spread rather than a narrow one. Jovani, Mac Duggal and Amarra sit at the fitted, heavily beaded end of the market. Dave & Johnny and Clarisse are where the more moderately priced dresses usually live. Faviana’s retailer page for this location also notes that its Celebrate Yourself fragrance is carried here.
What the department-store format changes
Two things, mostly. The first is that a dress trip here can be a mixed errand — the bridal floor, shoes and everyday clothing are in the same building, so a mother of the bride shopping for herself and a junior shopping for prom are not two separate drives. The second is that a store this size runs on floor stock. Ask directly what is on the rack in your size the day you come, and ask what the alteration timeline looks like, because those answers are what actually determine whether you leave with a dress.
The Winner’s Facebook page lists the store’s price range as $$ and carries several hundred customer reviews, a volume that suggests steady regional traffic rather than a shop that only sees prom season. Call (724) 346-9466 before you drive in during March or April to ask whether the prom floor is taking appointments that week, or whether you can simply walk the racks. The website is thewinneroutlet.com.