Congrats to Babette Hayward!

Holy smokes! Can you believe it’s been a week? I’m so excited about the giveaways we’ve done as well as the giveaways coming up!

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Shelley DeMerchant opened her boutique, The Urban Shoe Myth, earlier this year on King Street in Uptown Saint John. She’s a recovering Construction Engineering Technologist with an interest in every girl’s number 1 priority – SHOES!

She carries your favourite brands, including Coach, HUNTER, FRYE, Nine West, Dolce Vita, MICHAEL Michael Kors, Stuart Weitzman and more.

Enjoy!

{ Shelley DeMerchant }

Hi Shelley! Tell me about yourself and what you do!

I own The Urban Shoe Myth! It’s a fabulous shoe boutique located uptown Saint John. My former job was as a Construction Engineering Technologist. I worked in the industrial construction field, are wore my work boots every day at work! I’ve always wanted to own my own business, and have always had a weakness for shoes. When I moved to Saint John a little over 4 years ago, I noticed the fashion scene was really picking up. After talking with numerous women, I realized that a lot of them would go out of province and down to the states to buy their footwear. That is when I decided to take the leap from my steel toes to my stiletto’s!

{ My favourite shoes in the store by Michael Kors }

You opened the Urban Shoe Myth in the Spring.

Tell me about some challenges in opening up a shoe store on King Street.

One of the first challenges was for people to believe that a business on King Street was viable. I had more people tell me that it wouldn’t work at the location I am at. Convincing people that it would work, and that Uptown Saint John was really coming alive was a challenge. It seems that if they don’t work uptown, they never venture uptown. This is still an ongoing challenge, getting people to come Uptown to shop and eat. Uptown has had so many great shops and restaurants, and it really is a one stop shopping destination now!

{ Boots by FRYE }

Location, Location, Location! Your shoppe is formerly Tapps restaurant turned New York City style boutique.

Tell me about your collaboration with Design4Space.

When I started this process, I knew what I wanted my store to convey, but had no idea how to do it. We hired Design 4 Space to give us the “look”. They were so fantastic! I pretty much gave them three words to work off of – modern, vintage, and teal! I loved the first concept they came up with, and that is what we went with! It was really important to us to maintain as much of the integrity of the space as we could. I love old architecture and the characteristics of these buildings. Design 4 Space managed to give us that modern look while keeping the original brick walls, the original hardwood floor, and incorporating a lot of New Brunswick materials. We also used Saint John craftsmen to create a lot of what you see, from the wood carved signs outdoors, to the metal tree, and they even designed the light fixtures and had a local company create them! I am so in love with my store, and feel completely at home when I am there.

Lessons learned! What have you learned about your customers in Saint John?

Initially when I was preparing my business plan and conducting focus groups, I was concentrating on women ages 20 – 40. Once I opened the doors I quickly realized that fashion doesn’t have an age limit – women of all ages wanted fun and fashionable shoes! My customers generally range from ages 18 to 70!

I’ve learned that if you are a size 7 to 8, and you see a pair of shoes you like, you had better get them then! Those are generally the first sizes to go. I’ve learned this the hard way myself! (I’m a 7.5).

I am also learning what my customer’s want in their shoes – fun, fashionable, high quality products.

{ Be still my heart! Wedges by Dolce Vita }

Your past life (and current, in all honesty) is close to my heart. You are a CET (Construction Engineering Technologist) turned shoe store professional.

How have the skills from your former life transferred to your new one?

Well, one would think that these two things – construction and shoes – couldn’t be more different, and they are right! But the thing that remains the same is, good business practices are good business practices no matter what industry you are in. Luckily, my first 7 years in the construction industry I worked for a group of entrepreneurs who were forward thinking. The construction company was also fairly small, meaning that I had to do a lot of different things. Over those 7 years I worked in Quality, Safety, Human Resources, and Project Management. The skills I learned from the construction site in all of these areas I easily transferred to opening and running my shoe store. And let me tell you, there is no way to gain “thick skin” than to be a 24 year old naïve girl walking onto a construction site with over 200 men and not another woman in site! I no longer lock myself in the ladies room and cry when someone yells at me!

{ Animal print beauties! }

What is a typical day like for you?

A typical day for me is to get up early and get my 22 month old and 5 year old ready for the day. Once the 5 year old is on the bus to school, I get ready for work and then take my little one to her sitter. Then it’s off to the store. My day usually consists of paperwork, a meeting or two, and of course, serving the fabulous people who come in for shoes! Then it’s off to get the kids and supper with my family. Once they are in bed, I may have a bit more work to do, or if I’m lucky, have the evening to chill out!

What about your dream day?

My dream day would consist of sleeping in (8am is sleeping in for me now!), then going out for breakfast and good coffee, then a bit of shopping, a fabulous meal at a little café with friends, then maybe go for a run, read a good book and go out for supper with my husband and friends, and end the night with a bottle of wine! Yes, my dream day would revolve around food – I love to eat!!

{ MICHAEL Michael Kors Wedges }

What is the coolest thing to have happened to you since opening your boutique?

The store is one of the finalists in the Outstanding Business Achievement Awards this year. It is such an honor to be recognized our first year in business! I am blown away with the positive feedback from everyone! Another cool thing is being able to host private parties and events at the store. We’ve held quite a few now and they are always fun!

During our brief chat, you discussed the “Vegas Rule”. Elaborate for my curious readers.

Well, you wouldn’t believe the things women do to try and “hide” their shoe purchases! Some use three different credit and debit cards to pay for one item, so that their partner won’t see one big charge. Lots of women don’t want to take the shoe box home, and instead try and stuff their purchase inside their purses, hence an easy way to get them in the house undetected. Some women come in and pick up their layaway only to put another pair of shoes on layaway. So, we use the Vegas Rule at the store – “What happens in the store, stays in the store”! We won’t talk about a customer’s purchase outside of the store – your secret is safe with us!!

{ Stuart Weitzman Wedges }

Your use of social media is excellent.

What role has that played in your business success?

I think social media has played a huge role in my business success. Starting out, funds are tight and you try to think of ways to get the word about your business out there for the least amount of money. Facebook is a bit of an addiction of mine, and I loved getting updates from my favorite stores and brands. I started out by posting pictures of the shoes we had in the store. The response was huge! Now, as soon as that new shoe arrives, one of the first things we do is take a picture and upload it to our Facebook page. I get women coming in that day knowing exactly what they want, because they saw it on facebook. It also allows me to have an easy and quick way to communicate with my customers. They ask questions, and I am able to respond quickly. It’s one of my favorite things to do, updating our facebook page and then watching the comments come in!

{ Coach Heels }

Top 3:

Favourite designers

Jenna Lyons – Creative Director and President of J.Crew. She literally turned the brand around from your basic dull preppy clothes into gorgeous, colorful and fun clothes!
Calvin Klein – I love the simplicity and clean lines of this line.
Jimmy Choo shoes –fun and sexy shoes!!

Must have pieces for my closet for spring?

Color blocking and bright colors is still a huge trend for spring/summer shoes. Platforms and wedges are still big for the upcoming season. Also, shoes in natural colors and materials – think cognac, tans and cork!

Most played songs from your iPod?

I don’t listen to a lot of music on my iPod. Instead, I listen to books that I’ve downloaded. That way I can cheat and “read” while I cook, drive, or go for a run. My favorites have been Water for Elephants, The Help, and I am now “reading” Every Last One.

What’s in store for the Urban Shoe Myth?

We are going to continue to evolve, listening to what the customer wants and making sure we deliver. We have quite a few new brands we will be bringing into the store this upcoming spring season.

Exciting news!

STOCKING STUFFER GIVEAWAY NUMBER 8 – A gift certificate from the Urban Shoe Myth!

You can win a $50 gift certificate courtesy of Shelley at the Urban Shoe Myth!

Use it yourself to put toward a pair of your favourite shoes or give it as a holiday gift to a girlfriend!

Here’s how to enter:

All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me about your favourite pair of SHOES. (1 Entry)

Want a few extra entries? (3 more!)

+ Follow the Urban Shoe Myth on Twitter (1 Entry) and send Shelley a Tweet!

Follow @urbanshoemyth

For easy tweeting, click here:

Tweet

+ Like the Urban Shoe Myth on Facebook and leave a note on their page! (1 Entry)

+ Share this giveaway on any form of social media! Leave me a link to where I can find it! (1 Entry)

Have your entries in by Wednesday, December 7th 2011 at NOON!