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Our
Story
Clara's
Closet began in 1997 by two sisters, Fran Mallory and Mary Stalp.
Fran was a professor at Dana College and Mary was a dietitian at
a hospital in West Point.
The
sisters met one afternoon in Omaha to talk over the business and
tried to find a name that would be unique to the two of them.
They threw out many ideas and decided they would name it after
their mother, Clara. They named the company, Clara's, Inc., and
later changed the actual dress up business name to "Clara's
Closet Dress Up Parties."
The first
location was in an old vacant post office building in Elkhorn,
Nebraska. Fran and her family painted and repaired the
building, while both sisters helped with decorating the inside
and sewing dresses.
The
business was a godsend to Mary. In March of 1996, Mary lost her
youngest daughter in a car accident. Making dresses for the
business gave her a reason to get up on the mornings when she
didn't have to go to work at the hospital.
Soon, a
third person, Suzanne VanDusen, became a partner in the
business. Suzanne was a retired schoolteacher of 38 years and
brought her expertise in organizing children. She ran many of
the birthday parties and taught etiquette lessons.
After
being in business for two years, the women were faced with
selling the business or shutting the doors for good. Fran was
retiring from her position at the college and relocating to the
Southeast. The other two women did not want to continue on
their own, so actively began searching for a prospective buyer.
After advertising for several months, the company was sold and
transferred to Corina Orsborn.
Corina was
looking for a way to supplement her income due to a divorce.
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