Nov 3, 2009 / 2:30 pm
'If the shoe fits, wear it' isn't an expression that all Okanagan residents can easily relate to.
With that in mind, Roy's Shoe Repair on Ellis Street in Kelowna decided to hold a contest to find the Okanagan's biggest feet.
Owner Jim Belshaw says they were looking for a way to promote their service of custom-made shoes for men with large feet and the 'Big Foot' contest seemed like a good fit.
“We launched the contest in mid-September and we were going to run it for six weeks. Halloween day was going to be the end of the contest. It was fabulous, it sort of took off on its own,” says Belshaw.
He says they had about 30 people register for the contest. The contest had eight categories such as, business professional, local celebrity, sports figure and general public.
“We even had a ladies category because the company that I deal with that actually puts the shoes together is thinking about doing a ladies custom shoe next year. The winner of the ladies category was a young lady, 13-years-old with a shoe size of 14 and a half.”
Belshaw says the winner of the men's category was a young man from Keremeos, with a shoe size of 19 and a half.
“The category winners won a $200 gift certificate for custom shoes. The overall winner won a pair of custom shoes up to a cost of $1,000.”
He says $1,000 is a pretty typical amount to pay for custom made size 20s. By comparison, a pair of men's custom made size 12s would cost around $400.
The winner of the local celebrity category was Castanet humour columnist David Crawford. His feet measured in at size 15.
Jim Belshaw
Roy’s Shoes Boots and Repair
1627 Ellis Street, Kelowna, V1Y2A8
250-763-5696
roysshoes@shaw.ca
http://www.roysshoes.com/
http://www.soles4soulscanada.com/
