A local swimwear shop is closing its doors after more than a decade on Reno's Dickerson Road, just west of downtown. Strange Bikinis features unique swimsuits and apparel, all designed by Nevada native Ali Conway. She started making her own bikinis in college.
"When I was at UNR I started making them on the floor," she said. "I remember laying my first one down and cutting it out to go to Tahoe. And then the comments, the feedback, were like where did you get that, and I just let that ride. I trust my gut, my intuition, and that's why they're called Strange Bikinis, they are unique."
She started making custom swimsuits for clients - and word got out.
"This was 15 years ago, so before social media really took off, so I was right on that wave with social. At least locally, there was a rumor about me making swimsuits for women and it kind of took off."
That grew into an online business and a brick and mortar shop on Dickerson Road with a loyal following.
"I have the best customers," Conway said. "Reno is literally the best for small business support. I couldn't have grown my business like I did without the locals coming into the shop. And I know that what we do here is really special. We want you to look amazingly strange, so it's definitely an experience coming in."
The unique styles have been spotted all over.
"My cousin sends me pictures from Maui all the time saying, oh there's a Strange Bikini, there's a Strange Bikini, and she's right," she said.
The brand is all about making women feel beautiful in their swimsuits. Conway continues to offer alterations and some custom work as well.
"I still offer custom swimsuits to people with unique situations like mastectomies or shark bites, we've heard it all," she said.
But now it's the end of an era. The store is closing at the end of the week.
"I'm closing this store, retail location, because our landlords did ask us to vacate, which is all good," she said. "We will land on our feet. We'll figure it out. But right now I'm not really sure if I'm going to be opening another retail store because the focus seems to be online."
She says she'll continue to do pop-up shops around town, and the online business is still going strong, but closing these doors for the final time isn't going to be easy.
"A lot of sweat equity went into this building," she said. "A lot of heart, a lot of family members, people helping me. You really can't do it by yourself. And I raised my three babies in this building; I have so many photos of them, just so cute, when they're babies just helping me ship packages and stuff.."
The closing sale is this weekend, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Everything is deeply discounted.
