Racks and racks of more than 2,000 gowns protected in plastic await the perfect match.

“There is a girl for every dress,” says Judy Miller, of Greensburg resident, who with husband Frank, owns Millers' Prom and Formal Wear, Downtown Greensburg. “We want to be a destination store. We try to have as big a variety as possible. We had this one dress for almost a year. ... And then a girl came in and fell in love with it. It was there just waiting for her.”

On this particular evening, helping girls navigate all the choices was Miller's daughter, Laura, a senior at Hempfield Area High School, who works several days a week at the shop.

“It is so cute to see the girls all glowed up,” Laura Miller says. “Some will come in and say ‘I am here to say yes to the dress,' while others come in to look around and see what we have and then come back later. I like helping them because prom is such a fun time in your life. It depends on a girl's mindset when she comes in what she is looking for. Sometimes she knows the minute she tries a dress on, while others need to try 20 and 30. One girl tried on 50 dresses, but she found the one. When they find the dress they love, it's all worth it.”

The Millers have high school girls as store consultants to help customers. Marilyn Burkhardt, a senior at Greensburg Salem; Morgan Doshen, a junior at Norwin; and Madison Smith, a senior at Hempfield; show shoppers to fitting rooms and run back and forth showing them different styles of dresses and talking to them about the look.

Having these teens involved in the buying process is a plus, the Millers say, because the teens know the styles and interact well with the shoppers.

Burkhardt says prom is a time to choose a dress that's really fun, and she enjoys helping others find a dress they love.

Doshen, who found her prom dress — it has shorts — from an Instagram post, plans to wear Converse tennis shoes with it. Footwear is supposed to be comfortable for a night of dancing, the high school girls say. High heels are pretty much just for pictures.

It helps having their daughter and the high-schoolers because Judy and Frank Miller have other full-time jobs. She is the controller for Schultheis Electric in Latrobe, and Frank Miller is a visual designer working in the pageantry arts. Their oldest daughter, Marissa Miller, 27, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her fiancé Troy and daughter Lily, used to work at the store in high school and college.

The couple has owned and operated their boutique since August 2005. They moved to the current location — a former bank — in August 2016 from just down the street.

“We don't follow trends,” Frank Miller says. “We buy what's appealing to us. And having two daughters, we know a little bit about dresses. We know what we like to see on our girls.”

“We also know how well certain products are made,” Judy Miller says. “And we only buy one or two of each style — in different sizes.”

It's a boutique style store so they keep track of the dresses the girls buy, so those from the same school don't duplicate.

“Sometimes it is hard to get the girls to tell you what they want,” Judy Miller says. “But once we get them to open up they tell us what they like. There is some magic in finding the perfect dress.”

The average cost of a prom gown is $425 with a range of $125 to $1,000. Pageant dresses can go up to $4,000. The store carries more than 12 vendors and multiple lines such as Sherri Hill, Jovani, Rachel Allan, MacDuggal, Mon Cheri and Tony Bowls. The Millers attend the World of Prom show in Atlanta the first weekend in August where there are more than 300 vendors.

The displays in the 4,400-square-foot store's windows are changed out weekly.

In addition to prom gowns, there are homecoming dresses and an entire pageant section located in a vault of the former bank. They also sell jewelry and shoes.

Frank Miller says customers come back because of the way they are treated. It's an enjoyable experience for shoppers, he says.

It definitely was for Franklin Regional junior Abigail Albright to find her wine-colored prom gown.

“I like this one, because it's a classic look,” Albright says. “I knew this was the one after trying on seven or eight. I love this store and keep coming back because they treat me well and I always find the dress I want, so why not keep coming back?”

It was the first time in the store for Courtney Andree of Kiski Area. She and her mom Kris, who live in Saltsburg, had differing opinions on some of the dresses, but they agreed on one — a high neck embellished bodice with a lavender bottom — after trying on two sets of gowns.

“We have different tastes,” says Courtney Andree, after trying on her first set of gowns, before heading back to racks to look for more. “This can be stressful … but it's great to have so many options here. I am glad I found the dress. This is the dress. This is definitely the one.”

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-853-5062 or jharrop@tribweb.com.

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