Walk into the formal department at Grayce and the first thing you notice is the runway. It runs past giant mirrors, and it is there for exactly what you think: so a girl can walk the length of the room in her gown before she decides. Around it are 14 fitting rooms and, by the store's count, hundreds of prom, pageant, evening, homecoming, cocktail and special event dresses.
That scale is the point. Grayce took over the former Pier One building in the Hamilton Place shopping area, a freestanding space of 10,000 square feet with its own parking, and rebuilt it from the inside. The Chattanooga store opened on July 31, 2022. It is a standalone building on Hamilton Place Boulevard, not a storefront inside the mall itself. Prom shoppers can walk in during regular hours with no appointment.
How a Maine bridal company ended up on the east side of Chattanooga
The story behind the store is unusual for this part of the state. Founder Courtney James bought her first bridal shop in northern Maine in 2011, at 23, in a town of about 12,000 people. The business grew into stores in Bangor and South Portland, went through a rebrand, and settled on the name Grayce after months of brainstorming; her husband suggested adding the "y." When it came time for a fourth store, James chose Chattanooga because her sisters live here. In her words on the Our Story page, the old Pier One spot "was perfectly positioned & had so much potential," and the company bought the building outright. The brand is marking its 15-year anniversary this fall.
For a local shopper, the payoff is a big-format formal floor with a clear set of numbers behind it.
- Prom, pageant and evening gowns in stock
- Sizes 000 to 28, about $399 to $899
- Homecoming collection
- $60 to $300, sizes 0 to 24, orderable up to 32
- Special orders
- Any size, style or color the designer offers
- Fitting rooms
- 14, plus a runway with giant mirrors
- Appointment
- Not needed for prom, homecoming or formal
- Off-the-rack savings
- A rotating sale and clearance selection
The formal page names two lines. Sherri Hill is the designer label, and the store says that while not every Sherri Hill style is on the floor, it will special order any size, style or color directly from the designer when it is available. The second is Ana Sophia Occasions, a private-label collection the store assembles itself.
The prom calendar here
Grayce runs prom like a season, not a rack. The 2026 season opened with a prom kickoff party, and in March the Chattanooga store ran a spring-break promotion where every prom dress purchase earned a spin of a prize wheel. That same promotion carries the detail a school-dance shopper should care about most: you can register your dress with your school so nobody else from the store shows up in the same look. The store also runs a Formal Ambassador program for high school students, who model new prom styles, create content for the store's social accounts and earn credit toward their own prom dress.
The ambassador program is more structured than most. According to the program page, ambassadors get first word on new arrivals, merch, themed photo shoots and invitations to preview parties and an ambassador soirée. Applications for the 2026/27 group are open on the site.
Prom sales code
Every prom sale made with an ambassador's code earns $20 toward her own 2027 prom dress
Homecoming drawing
Every homecoming sale made with her code enters her in a drawing for a free homecoming dress
Girls in Leadership Scholarship
$500, open to ambassadors and sponsored by the sister company, Grayce Leadership Solutions
The staffing follows the same seasonal rhythm. This fall the store is holding tryouts for seasonal prom stylists for the 2027 season, and the listing says no experience is necessary. A store that hires a dedicated seasonal prom team is clearly expecting a packed formal floor once January arrives.
Homecoming has its own rack, too. The store describes the collection as highly requested and carefully selected, and pitches it for sorority and formal events as well as fall dances, which makes it a useful stop for college students at UTC or Lee University as much as for high school sophomores.
The east side of Hamilton County is the store's home turf. East Hamilton and Ooltewah high schools are close by, Central High sits in Harrison, and East Ridge and Brainerd families come in from the other direction. Families from Cleveland and from just over the Georgia line use the same stretch of interstate to get here, which makes this a natural meeting point for the whole southeast Tennessee and north Georgia area.
Mothers get a mention too: the Chattanooga store claims the city's widest selection of mothers' and evening dresses. The bridal suites, including a private Luxe suite and a discounted Ready to Wed boutique, are a separate world inside the same building.
Alterations are handled outside the store. The FAQ explains that the Chattanooga location does not have an in-house seamstress, and every buyer gets an email and text after purchase with a list of recommended seamstresses.
Grayce answers on tailoring and the registry
Can Grayce alter my prom dress?
Grayce sends alterations out. The Chattanooga location has no in-house seamstress, so every buyer gets an email and text after purchase with a list of recommended seamstresses.
Does Grayce keep a prom dress registry?
Yes. The Chattanooga store invites shoppers to register their prom look with their school.
Plus, register your prom look with your school to ensure your look is one of a kind!
Grayce ran that invitation as part of its spring prom promotion.