A Lake Country business celebrated its 10th birthday recently and shows no signs of slowing down.
Ten years ago, Chris and Addie Pafiolis welcomed their fourth child into the world and decided to launch a business from their kitchen table in The Lakes neighbourhood. After a year of creating a business plan, figuring out how to start it, where to get the materials and more, Sweetlegs 乌鸦传媒 a body-positive apparel store 乌鸦传媒 was born.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 been a wild road with ups and downs and everything in between乌鸦传媒 said Chris.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 been a rollercoaster,乌鸦传媒 added Addie.
Chris and Addie乌鸦传媒檚 first location was down the road from their home in the back of Lakewood Mall, which eventually changed to a storefront store there. Before they were even open, people would knock on the door with their money ready, Addie added.
Over time as they grew, they moved to their current location at 104-9950 main Street in Lake Country. They also now have an e-commerce location on McCurdy Road in Kelowna.
Over the 10 years, they乌鸦传媒檝e grown so much that they commonly set their products anywhere they go and have shipped orders all over the world.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e been in Europe and Disneyland and see people wearing our products,乌鸦传媒 said Addie. 乌鸦传媒淥ur focus is to build confidence and that wasn乌鸦传媒檛 out intention when we started. It乌鸦传媒檚 so fun to see people out in the wild wearing them and it乌鸦传媒檚 hard to keep your mouth quiet like 乌鸦传媒業 made those!乌鸦传媒
Chris added they乌鸦传媒檝e shipped orders up to the North Pole as well as Egypt and also every country.
乌鸦传媒淥ur coolest one was during the pandemic, I saw on social media and saw Emily Hampshire from Schitt乌鸦传媒檚 Creek wearing a pair of our leggings to the Grammy乌鸦传媒檚,乌鸦传媒 said Addie.
乌鸦传媒淲e have fans all over the place, fans you would never expect,乌鸦传媒 said Chris.
Of course over 10 years, ups and downs are going to happen but as worried as they were, they were able to make it through the pandemic.
乌鸦传媒淲e expected the worst like everybody,乌鸦传媒 said Chris. 乌鸦传媒淚t was one of those things where you don乌鸦传媒檛 know where it乌鸦传媒檚 going but in the end, we did quite well.乌鸦传媒
Since then, other obstacles have provided a bit of a challenge as well.
乌鸦传媒淭he rising costs has been tricky and we navigate that like any other business,乌鸦传媒 stated Chris.
For the 10th anniversary, Sweetlegs hosted a 60 per cent off sale in store and online, had a draw for a superfan, a photobooth and cupcakes at their store, and created live videos with customers as they arrived to the store.
乌鸦传媒淭he key to our business and our success is the staff, we got such a great team from marketing to the warehouse, the team makes this happen,乌鸦传媒 said Chris. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 fun building the relationships with staff and the customers.乌鸦传媒
乌鸦传媒淎 big thank you to the community, we wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 be here without everyone locally who supported us and helped us build our business,乌鸦传媒 added Addie. It乌鸦传媒檚 been empowering and kind of shocking to watch it grow.乌鸦传媒
As for the next 10 years, Chris and Addie want to keep their message the same.
乌鸦传媒淚f we can just keep spreading body confidence and size inclusivity, that rewards us.乌鸦传媒 said Addie.
Hand-in-hand with their 10th anniversary, Sweetlegs is launching an ambassador program on April 15.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 something were super excited to launch,乌鸦传媒 said Chris.
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