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EASTON — Ownership of a longtime bridal store in Easton dating back to 1981 passed from one family to another in January with hopes of keeping the business for many years to come.

The Silhouette is now owned by sisters-in-law Alexa Pearson and Paige Umhoefer, while previous owner Jolene Pearson is continuing on as one of the business’s two seamstresses.

Alexa Pearson stated her family has been in the bridal industry for a long time, with her mother-in-law, Valerie Pearson, owning two bridal stores — one in Mankato and one in New Ulm. She is also in the wedding decorating business.

“We’ve always been involved with some sort of wedding aspect,” Alexa Pearson said. “We’ve worked in the shops and all that, so we decided to branch out and buy this.”

She said as her mother-in-law retires, they could take over her two shops as well.

The two young moms with a combined six children under the age of 6 have a combined 30 years of experience in the bridal industry. “We actually kind of mutually approached each other,” Alexa Pearson said of how the sale came about. “Jolene was looking to retire and she definitely wanted to go to someone who would keep the family tradition going. Jolene’s mother started the shop in 1981 … they’ve been a part of this since then.”

The two women officially took over the store Jan. 5 and hit the ground running.

The store offers wedding dresses from size 8 through 30, as well as dresses for bridesmaids, mothers of the bride and flower girls. They also offer tuxedos and accessories including jewelry, hair pieces and veils.

She said they planned to do some updates to the store to make it fresh and fun for the brides because the bridal industry is always changing. They will also bring in some new lines for brides and get some new styles for mothers of the bride.

They are building a separate entrance for the seamstresses, so they can run alterations at any time of day, and are expanding the bridal area so there will be two bridal suites. They are also expanding the tuxedo area with more options and will have a new bridesmaid suite area with more dressing rooms.

“We’re going to keep the name,” she said. “We’re going to keep the same small-town, wholesome atmosphere. We want to keep up what they’ve built.”

Alexa Pearson said the business draws customers from as far away as the Twin Cities, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Iowa, along with people from southern Minnesota.

Mothers who shopped there when they got married are now bringing in their daughters.

The Silhouette is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

“All the people who have heard about it, they’re excited about everything … appointments are still coming in and we’re hoping to grow as we get the word out to other areas,” Alexa Pearson said.

The store also owns gown preservation after the wedding.