I’m walking into one of Erie's newest businesses.  It's a bridal shop, a business that most guys would never have a reason to visit.  It's not the beautiful wedding gowns I came to see at Formality Bridal.   I'm here to meet the store's owner, Penny Bowers-Schebal.  I want to talk with her about her double life.  Part of the day she's here at her shop at 12th Street and Pittsburgh Avenue making it possible for brides to obtain high-end wedding gowns at a terrific discount price. It's a life of beauty, white lace, and elegance.  

Penny's other life is quite the opposite.  The woman who is an expert in matching a bride with an exquisite and stylish wedding gown is also a goat farmer.

"I can tell you that I have had my hands on goats in places most people have not had their hands on goats,” says Penny.

Penny and her husband inherited the farm and adjusted to rural life rather quickly.  Penny loves doing the dirty work that goes with raising goats and chickens.  She then switches gears and heads to the elegant bridal store.  It's a wonderful life of goats and glamor.

"I like going home and putting on my barn boots and going out to the barn.  And I also love coming here and dressing up and working with bridal gowns,” says Penny.

Formality Bridal is Penny's second bridal store.  She opened the Erie store at the end of November.  She still operates her initial store in Geneva, Ohio.   Penny knows that the styles of wedding gowns change from season to season. So, she obtains designer sample gowns that were previously showcased in high-end stores across the country.  She sells them at a discount of 50%, 60%, and 70% with no gown selling for over $999. All the gowns are displayed at the store. The bride leaves with her gown the same day she comes in.

"You see it.  You try it on.  You save money.  You take it home,” says Penny.

It's a wonderful concept devised by Penny. Businesswoman and goat farmer.

"I don't think you have to limit yourself to just one lane in life," says Penny. "I think you can do a myriad of things and I think you can do them simultaneously."

Penny says the success of the Erie store has already surpassed her expectations. She is from Ashtabula County, and developed her business acumen when she previously worked for Progressive Insurance.