THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 28, 1994 TAG: 9412240109
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
When Alycia Walker-Gaynor was growing up in Southern California, ice skating was considered strictly recreation and nothing to be taken seriously.
Even though she loved to skate she was told there was no future in it; women were supposed to stay home and wear aprons. That's exactly what she did. She got married, had a family and traveled from port to port with her husband, Tom, a military man.
Almost 25 years later, Walker-Gaynor, now 46, has come full circle - back to the chilly rink and back to the dreams of gliding across the ice in a billowing chiffon costume.
Only this time her daughters are doing the skating and she's doing everything she can - including opening an ice and roller skating pro shop - to help.
Walker-Gaynor opened the store, Enchantment On Ice, so that her two daughters - 14-year-old Melissa and 10-year-old Monica - as well as all of their friends at the ice rink would have a place to buy custom-made costumes for competitions, quality ice skates and roller skates, as well as all the equipment that accompanies the two sports.
``This is like the ultimate for me,'' said Walker-Gaynor, a resident of the Coventry neighborhood. ``To watch the kids and see them in our outfits, I'm really proud.''
Enchantment On Ice in the Aragona Shoppes stocks a variety of skating paraphernalia. There are leotards and unitards for practice, sweatsuits, T-shirts and even jewelry featuring ice and roller skating themes.
Skating-themed art work by local artist Frank Fuller is also offered in the shop.
There are Mondor tights from Canada starting at $8 and a variety of videotapes that teach skaters everything from how to jump and spin on ice to how to dance.
``I really try to stress the education,'' Walker-Gaynor said. ``I want them to not only concentrate on looking good but also on the education.''
Walker-Gaynor herself received an education when she decided to sell top-quality skates in the store. She drove to Knoxville, Tenn., to learn how to mount and fit skates from Robert Unger, the man who invented a skating program called the ISIA Program, which stands for Ice Skating Institute of America for Recreation and Lessons.
Walker-Gaynor sells primarily Skaters Edge ice skates, a professional-style skate that starts at $70.
As for competition clothing, one clothing rack features colorful sleeveless outfits and another features the more expensive, fancy sequined costumes with flowing chiffon starting at $75.
She also has a seamstress she works with for custom orders for men and women. There are bolts of material in a back room so customers can choose their own patterns.
Walker-Gaynor, and the store's vice president, Sheryl Baker, are also planning on starting a line of skating clothing called Crystal Ice. The two women are already in the process of putting together a mail-order catalog.
Aside from the skating merchandise, they have also dedicated a room for ``off-ice'' training. It has a ballet bar for stretching exercises as well as a camcorder to record sessions for later viewing. The room is rented primarily by skating coaches and their students. The price is negotiable, Walker-Gaynor said.
When the room isn't being used for training, it usually holds one or two teenagers or youngsters lounging around after a lesson or two from the nearby Iceland skating rink.
``The kids go back and forth,'' Walker-Gaynor said. ``This is a very unconventional shop, which is what I wanted. I wanted the kind of business where you can bring your kids and feel comfortable shopping.''
She opened the store in the Aragona Shoppes, right next to Iceland Skating Rink about two months ago. Before that it was off Bonney Road.
Her new location is ideal, she said. ``We knew this was where we needed to be. And Iceland has been extremely cooperative and very supportive.''
She enrolled her two daughters in ice skating lessons two years ago.
``They needed some outside activity and instead of being smart enough to put them in bowling where it's less expensive, we chose ice skating,'' she said and laughed.
When her girls began getting into competitions, her search for their performance clothing was the first step towards opening her business, although she didn't know it at the time.
``We couldn't find anything,'' she said. ``Everything was done by mail-order and sometimes it fit and sometimes it didn't. Everyone around the rink kept saying how we needed some type of pro shop. And one day I just decided, `lets do it.' ''
Children aren't her only customers. A good portion of adults are buying skates, too. She has clients in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Richmond, and even one from Long Island, N.Y.
She took about $2,000 of the family's savings to start her initial inventory. Since, she says, she's poured every dime back into the business.
``It's nice to know I look forward to coming to work,'' she said. ``I love this shop.'' MEMO: Enchantment On Ice is open from noon to 7 p.m. on Monday; from 10:30
a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday; and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
on Saturday. Private appointments can also be made. The phone number is
490-0676.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Skaters Melissa, 14, left, and Monica Walker-Gaynor, 10, help out in
their mother's ice and roller skating business.
by CNB