West County Mall St Louis

Bows that adorn flip-flops are selling well

• How did you get started making bows for shoes? I'd been doing children's clothing for the past 22 years, coordinating girls outfits from 18 months to size 8 with the matching bows, socks and doll outfits. I started it in 1989 in West County Mall in a kiosk and then moved on to craft fairs, so I traveled the Midwest. Every spring I always wanted to add flip-flops to match but never wanted to carry a whole line of shoes. So I came up with the idea of a removable bow in 2008. At the time, there was nothing out there like this, so I started the patent process for Chambeez (it's currently patent pending). Then I realized it was a much bigger market. So I played around with it and came up with this removable bow that can be used for flip-flops, Crocs, sandals, tennis shoes and even as a ponytail holder.

• How much are your bows? They range from $15 to $25.

• Are you still doing the clothing line? It's called Young Traditions and has been in the St. Louis area for many years. I have a lot of loyal customers, so I am still making the clothing. But I'm not sure how many I'll be making this fall, because I'll be so busy with the Chambeez.

• Who wears your bows? You know, I sell a lot to kids; tweens are a great age group as well as college kids. I see the whole range, so that's really good. I get a lot of wedding parties buying them. They wear them on the shoes for the wedding then they change to flip-flops for the reception and keep the bow. It's like a little charm for your shoe. I also have the Mizzou license because every girl on campus wears flip-flops. We have lots of school colors the girls like to wear, too. I wear them every day myself. I just get Old Navy flip-flops and dress them up.

• Which design is your favorite? We've come out with something new this year, a rhinestone and Swarovski one; they are a little dressier, but you can wear them every day. I wear the animal prints a lot. They can really change the look of a basic shoe.

Westfield Shoppingtown West County | Boston Red Sox Shop

They have developed a new circle of hell for Mike Edwards(ceo) of Borders and there will be no K-Y for him. He has selfishly given himself raises and bonuses throughout this bankruptcy process while slashing jobs, denying severance pay, cutting “retention bonuses” from G.M.’s who stayed to lock the doors, and somehow, the company has not notified COBRA of our leaving.

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