Summit Dance Shoppe Adds To Its Plymouth Studio

One of the largest dance studios in the Midwest is about to get a little bigger.  in Plymouth is adding a seventh studio to their building off of Highway 55 and Fernbrook Lane to accommodate a growing number of students.

The family owned business used to run two studios, the one in Plymouth and one in the Wayzata Bay Shopping Center, however, that strip mall is scheduled for demolition. All of the had to move out to make way for a new senior living facility.

“The addition is needed in part because our Wayzata location is gone,” said co-owner Jenny Roth. “We’ve decided to focus all of our efforts in this building rather than spread out over two.”

It’s a decision the family has talked about for about five years, according to Roth.

“We knew that strip mall was fading and there was a lot of talk about its demolition for years, so we knew it was coming,”  she said.

Summit Dance is truly a family run business. Two sisters and their mother own the shoppe, their father is the financial whiz and their brother is the building supervisor.

“Our parents started this company more than 50 years ago and we’ve been offering dance lessons ever since,” Roth said.

Summit Dance Shoppe has about 1200 students learning ballet, pointe, tap, hip-hop and jazz dance. While their programs fro 5-9 year olds are the most popular, the shoppe boasts a broad variety of dance for all ages, including competitive dance lines.

For mothers like Jacki Miller, Summit Dance Shoppe offers a chance for her daughter, Juliana, to try something different.

“I really like that Summit offers a traditional style of dance,” Miller said. “My four-year-old practices her moves at home all the time and she really enjoys learning ballet.”

Like many parents, she sees the demand in services and understands why an addition is needed, she said.

The seventh studio will be on the first level of the two-story building and be used predominately for recreational dancing. Right now, Summit Dance is renting warehouse space next door to keep up with demand.

“We have some really great dancers here and they haven’t complained once about this temporary adjustment,” said co-owner Missy Goers. “Everyone is anxious for the space to open.”

Contractors have most of the concrete down, and frames in place for drywall.  The owners hope to have the new studio open in a few weeks at the end of October or early November.