PTBOCanada Featured Post: Mike & Shelby Watt's Save Our Soles (S.O.S) Celebrating 10th Year In Downtown Peterborough
/September 23rd, 2006 will go down in local history as a day that not only changed the landscape of downtown Peterborough’s fashion district, but also a day that took some 100 or so local people by complete surprise.
The surprise wedding/store launch! September 23rd, 2006
Mike and Shelby (or "B" as she’s more affectionately known) Watt were just about to launch their third business (Flavour Fashion and Plush Boutique came before) in town and had an elaborate opening night fashion show set up to get things started in front of some of their closest friends and family.
Well at least that’s what they lead everyone to believe.
Shelby with shocked guests!
Lovers of all that is local, the couple even brought in local vendors to supply food, drinks and entertainment to cover up their elaborate plan that was about to unfold.
Instead of the expected fashion show, Mike and B flipped the script and threw a surprise wedding for themselves and Save Our Soles (S.O.S) was born with an epic bang! If you know Mike and Shelby, this all just makes too much perfect sense.
An amazing day Mike and B. and their guests will never forget
Already local trend setters with their Flavour and Plush Boutique clothing shops downtown, Mike and B knew something was missing in Peterborough and in their business catalogue. As entrepreneurs, they had been driven by passion for the fashion industry and knew that to succeed the way they wanted they’d need to take risks.
Their thought was if they could dress their clients from head to toe, why not go all the way and be able to complete a look with killer pair of shoes. So, after successful starts with both Flavour and Plush—followed by moving both shops to locations across the street from each other—they saw a chance to open up shop #3 in the same vicinity and legitimately jumped at the chance.
With a decade on George St. now in the books, decades more are in the works for the little shoe shop that could. An idea that began with one simple shoe based from a TV show 10 years ago has now turned into a full blown operation that carries brands and styles that one might expect to only find in larger markets.
Favourites like Hunters, Vans, Sorel and Converse dominate the blissful walls at S.O.S, while KENDALL + KYLIE, Steve Madden, and Redwings bring a flare most feet would dare to wear in our city’s streets. Bringing shoes from big markets such as Montreal, New York and Toronto to Peterborough has been a major undertaking to go along with taking care of their other shops.
Mike and B with their three children (including twins!).
