New shoe store open on State Street
New shoe store O My Sole opened about four months ago on State Street.
The store specializes in high-end, handmade shoes from Europe.
SANTA BARBARA — State Street has welcomed the shoe store O My Sole to its historic downtown. Open for four months now, O My Sole proudly specializes in fashion and comfort shoes for customers who seek unique designs.
Located between W. Figueroa and W. Carrillo Street, O My Sole is one of very few high-end shoe stores in Santa Barbara. O My Sole President, Jack London, said that the number one thing he hears from customers is along the lines of “I can’t believe it, oh my goodness, it’s a shoe store in Santa Barbara.”
On top of its uniqueness as a high end shoe store in Santa Barbara, its inventory is very exclusive.
From places like France, Italy, Spain and Germany, all of O My Sole’s shoes come from family factories in Europe, meaning that each pair of shoes is imported and handmade from real leather.
Confident in the exclusivity of O My Sole’s inventory, Mr. London claims, “anything you find here, you will not find anywhere else in Santa Barbara.”
Backing this claim, O My Sole even has Birkenstock shoes. According to Mr. London, this makes them the exclusive distributor of Birkenstock shoes in Santa Barbara. In order to be a Birkenstock shoes distributor, stores must get approved by Birkenstock, and according to Mr. London, O My Sole got approved in one day, which “never happens.” Birkenstocks is just one example of O My Sole’s exclusive supply.
Despite its inventory being imported from across Europe, O My Sole is a California-based company with eight locations from Monterey all the way down to Orange County.
Mr. London said that most shoe stores only get two shipments of shoes a year, once in the summer and once in the winter. This means that the shoes a store has are generally going to be all the store has for six months. O My Sole, on the other hand, gets a new shipment every month.
So in the four months it has been open, O My Sole’s inventory has been refreshed four times, and other stores’ inventories have most likely not changed at all, according to Mr, London.
O My Sole is almost like Trader Joe’s for shoes, according to Mr. London. The business scours Europe for the best small business private-label shoes, ensuring that their product is always high quality and unique.
O My Sole is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. They do not sell children’s shoes.
email: cbeeghly@newspress.com
