The Friday, Jan. 18 Oakdale Chamber of Commerce awards dinner will include recognition for a trio of small local businesses. The three – Infinite Athletics Cheer and Tumbling, Kristine’s Designer Clothing, and Me And My Feet – have all been nominated for the Small Business of the Year recognition.
Following is information about the nominees, with information provided by the businesses.
Infinite Athletics Cheer And Tumbling
Infinite Athletics Cheer and Tumbling is a small family owned business that has been operating for two years in the community. In that short time Infinite Athletics have been ranked as the best in the nation. They genuinely care about their athlete’s experience, and it shows in the coach’s instruction and close attention to technique. First-time athletes continually become long-term athletes time and time again.
Infinite Athletics trains competition cheerleaders for national level competition and teaches tumbling classes to the community. They provides a unique special event location for things like for nerf wars, ninja warrior training, dance and tumbling parties perfect for a birthday party or team building event. Infinite Athletics is also the only gym in the area that has a special needs competition team.
They are committed to the cheer and dance industry and to serving quality and value to their athletes. They worked to ensure their gym’s design includes the latest technology by having a real-time video feedback system, providing every coach with an iPad to help facilitate the learning experience, and a 7500-watt professional stereo system for that competition like sound as the athletes prepare.
Infinite Athletics Cheer and Tumbling has a positive impact on their students by teaching them skills to be among the best athletes in the nation. More importantly they provide the youth with a safe place to be, teach life skills and how to become a better citizen for our community.
Every year Infinite Athletics sponsors families through various organizations during the holidays, as well as does community outreach to help contribute to what is happening in and around the community. They also participate in the feeding the homeless throughout the year with the help of their athletes and their families. Over 500 homeless adults and 27 children were provided with basic needs, a meal and human kindness. The kids in the homeless village had an opportunity to feel normal even if it was only for a few hours. Infinite Athletics is a known donation drop off site for supplies and donations for California.
Kristine’s Designer Clothing
Kristine’s Designer Clothing provides a unique shopping experience with fun and stylish apparel and remarkable customer service. They carry a variety of sizes and embrace all women no matter the age or size. They have called Oakdale home since 2014 when they moved into a store in downtown Oakdale. In a year’s time they moved to their current location at 1214 W. F St., which is a larger space with more parking for customers.
Kristine’s Designer Clothing has started doing fashion shows for community events like Oakdale Soroptimist’s Holiday Luncheon and the Oakdale Women’s Club’s Scholarship Luncheon to help groups raise funds and sell more tickets. They often donate gift baskets and gift certificates to various fundraisers.
Kristine’s Designer Clothing provides a place where women can buy upscale clothes and accessories – for work, casual or vacation giving residents another option to Shop Oakdale. She carries many “favorites” such as Tribal Sportswear, FDJ Jeans, Multiples, SlimSation, Adore, and Jess & Jane, just to name a few. Kristine’s Designer Clothing also offers a loyalty program for repeat customers to save money and earn rewards. Businesses like Kristine’s Designer Clothing help create a sense of community because of the personal attention and care they put into their customers and business. Kristine’s Designer Clothing even offers clients the opportunity to schedule their own private fitting. Whether they see a client once a week, or once a month, or once a season they work hard to remember what clients like, have bought and what they have in their closet. Kristine’s Designer Clothing features high quality, name brand women’s fashions at affordable prices. It’s always a fun place to shop and always fashionable with the latest styles!
When Kristine Fallentine opened her business she wanted to provide a unique atmosphere where customers get personalized attention to address their needs and give them a hassle free, fun experience. She helps her customers with their selection, suggesting styles that flatter their figures and brings out the best in them.
Me and My Feet
Me and My Feet’s humble beginnings started with just six pairs of shoes for their opening order. From there they started a website but when local people discovered that they had shoes they asked if Me and My Feet would fit them. So with suitcase in hand they went from house to house fitting families. They were small but had a huge impact because they care for every single one of their clients and put their needs first. As their clientele grew so did the business and they moved into the industrial park and created an appointment only store front. Just two year later they moved to a little store in downtown Oakdale. Quickly they realized that location was too small. In January of 2016, Me and My Feet opened their current location at 1570 E. F St., which is bigger and allows them to provide more product options but also help the people in the community.
Currently, Me and My Feet has three employees who all undergo vigorous training from the studying of the bones and muscles in the foot to the details of products carried in the store. The owners encourage all of their employees to try all of the products to make sure they understand the quality and ensure that their knowledge of the products is genuine. Me and My Feet have a lengthy training process to certify that all of the employees know how to properly fit and size all of their clients. Me and My Feet want a personal relationship with all of their clients to better understand the needs that are needing to be met. They want you to feel welcome and understood as they do their best to help fit your needs. Aside from wanting to make your shoe shopping experience a pleasant one they also help find the right shoe for those with minor pains like sore feet to more painful troubles, like plantar fasciitis, including the hard to fit clients.
As a family business they donate to many organizations – Modesto Church in the Park, Cleansing Hope Shower Shuttle, Oakdale Rescue Mission, National Night Out, Downtown Christmas, various local fundraisers and local schools, to name a few. They love making a positive impact in the community whether they help others through donations or hosting a number of events at their store. One of the events that Me and My Feet continue to do annually is a Shoe Drive. Since 2016, they have collected any new or gently used shoes that are donated to the local outreach programs in Stanislaus County. The first year Me and My Feet collected over 500 pairs of shoes – Men’s, Women’s, and Children’s. In 2018 they collected over 1,200 pairs! With each year Me and My Feet up their collection goals to see if they can help more of those in need.
Me and My Feet has created events to encourage the local community to shop small and to stay local. Two years ago they reached out to the Oakdale Chamber and suggested they partner together to organize an All Kids Craft Fair; where local kids created their own product to sell. Last year Me and My Feet invited Bank of Stockton to teach money management to the kidpreneurs followed by a brief lesson in marketing by Me and My Feet to help them be more successful business people. Me and My Feet are excited to see how this event grows and look forward to more kid crafters joining the event next November.
Me and My Feet also holds Trunk Shows with different vendors showcasing different products for both adults and children. They also hold Healthy Living Classes once a month to help educate the community in the everyday adventures of life. Their goal as a local family owned small business is to help the community from shoes to a healthy way to live. For more than a dozen years they’ve been doing this, “One step at a time!”
