On a bright fall day in
October, 1997, my sister Jeanie and I held hands and stood in front of
248 Detroit Street. We looked up at the freshly installed moniker on the
building. We looked at each other. I squeezed her hand. "This is it,
sister," I said. "This is it, sister" she answered.
After weeks of
preparation of the space, after months of planning over coffee,
margaritas and countless cartons of Chinese food, after years and years
of dreaming. This was it.
We turned the key and
SOL Store of Lingerie was officially open. Wouldn't it be fun to say
there was a line of people waiting with us like on a Sidewalk Sale day?
It would, but it wouldn't be true. That first day, we had a total of
four customers. Four. I could tell you everything about each of them.
And we're very proud to say we still see two of them quite often. Thank
you Nancy Mitzner and Patty Soffer! As our longest standing customers,
you are the original SOL Girls.
Opening Day with our one employee. Seems like yesterday. |
That
first year, if you wanted a Daisy bra, you could choose Navy...or Navy.
We sold 150 of them. We've had 14 fashion colors since then - and in
the first nine months of this year alone, more than 3500 have made their
way from our fitting rooms to your wardrobes.
We've had amazing trips
to Las Vegas, New York, Paris. (Oh, Paris.) We've had the thrill of
seeing our first billboard go up, our first ad in a magazine, our first
invitation to be on the Today Show. We've met so many absolutely lovely women in Denver and around the world.
Building
the plan for SOL was a lot like getting ready to have a baby. You hope,
you plan, you dream. You build a nest and you wait. Finally the day
comes, and you step into a new and exciting set of adventures. There's
no looking back. Your baby enters the world with all your wishes and
work supporting it.
SOL
is older than my daughter, older than Jeanie's daughter. It is our
first child, and we're so happy that's it's a thriving teen now because
of hard work and a true and honest love of what we do. Because of the
dedication of loyal SOL employees. And of course, because of your
support.
Earlier this month we posted a note on Facebook. It said "Happy
Anniversary to SOL, it's been 14 years since we opened the door to our
dream." And that is exactly true.
Happy anniversary to SOL. Thank you, sister.
xoxo,
Cindy