Women love shoes. When friends and I hit the biannual District Sample Sale, the strategy is always: “head straight to the shoes.” The recent news that Zelaya shoe boutique is staying open was due to the shopping frenzy at his closing sale.
The shoe’s time has come.
At least that’s what Back Roads Entertainment seems to think. Producer Colby Gaines, creator of the Emmy-nominated “Pawn Stars,” has zoomed in on Sassanova, the upscale shoe boutique on Bethesda Lane, as the setting for a potential reality show.
When co-owners Sarah Cannova and Sassy Jacobs saw the initial email from the studio about doing a reality show in their store, Cannova says they thought they were “total jokers.” As it turns out, they weren’t joking. Their interest was (so sorry) a reality.
They’ve filmed a promotional “sizzle reel,” a precursor to a pilot that Back Roads will shop around to the networks, says Cannova. Footage was shot in the Georgetown and Bethesda locations.
Cannova says the show will focus on the “psyche of women and their shoes.”
“There’s this kind of visceral reaction when a woman is buying shoes,” Cannova says. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 50 or 15, 300 pounds or 30 pounds, all women still like shoes.” The show will also give insight into the business of owning and operating a shoe store.
When the producers compared the concept to TLC’s popular “Say Yes to the Dress,” Cannova didn’t really know what they were talking about. “I’m a ‘Downton Abbey’ kind of girl. I really don’t watch reality shows.” I bet she hopes to start watching soon.
7134 Bethesda Lane, Bethesda, 301-654-7403, www.sassanovashoes.blogspot.com
