Arlene’s Dress Shop rebrands and relocates

Arlene’s Dress Shop is now located at the Castro Building in front of Asia Car Wash along Kadena Di Amor Street in Garapan. (Mark Rabago)

What used to be R-Lyn’s Dress Shop & Sportswear has renamed itself as Arlene’s Dress Shop and has relocated closer to Middle Road in Garapan.

The company moved to its new location at the Castro Building in front of Asia Car Wash along Kadena Di Amor Street, also in Garapan, only last July 15.

Owner Arlina Orda said the slow business due to COVID-19 and rising lease costs prompted her to move Arlene’s Dress Shop to its new location. R-Lyn’s Dress Shop was first established in April 2011 and used to be located along Beach Road in the building beside the TSL Plaza in Garapan.

Owner Arlina Orda with staff Noel Baitlon and Michael Danao. (Mark Rabago)

While smaller than its previous location, Orda said Arlene’s Dress Shop is still accessible to its loyal clientele.

She said the pandemic has really done a number on the company’s operations, as business has been down 85% since the CNMI recorded its first COVID-19 case last March. “We’ve lost a lot of our steady customers like those for school uniforms, weddings, theme birthday parties, gender reveals, debuts, and other social events like costume parties and the likes because of COVID-19,” she said.

Orda, however, is upbeat as the CNMI hasn’t had any COVID-19 community transmission for more than two months now and is looking forward to the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force finally declaring the CNMI under Community Vulnerability Level Green.

Arlene’s Dress Shop is the exclusive supplier of uniforms for Grace Christian Academy and Green Meadows School and makes the P.E. uniforms for Mt. Carmel School.

Arlene’s Dress Shop’s Hawaiian print face masks. (Mark Rabago)

Aside from school uniforms, Arlene’s Dress Shop also makes wedding suits and dresses, Hawaiian shirts and dresses, costumes for all themed parties, graduation togas and mortarboards, and sports apparel for basketball, soccer, baseball, and other sports.

Recently, Arlene’s Dress Shop has also started sewing Hawaiian print COVID-19 face masks and they’re on sale at the shop and also at Pacific Quick Print for only $3.

Orda said her shop strictly abides by the guidelines set by the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. “Of course, everyone has to wear a mask when they come inside and we have hand sanitizers for them when they come in. We can also entertain only a few customers at a time, in keeping with the strict guidelines of the task force,” she said.

Arlene’s Dress Shop is open every day from 9am to 6pm. For more information, call 233-6244 or 287-2316.