By Sarah Baicker
Photograph by Sarah Carmody
Last December, Laura Bryan, 27, bought a pair of gorgeous, gold heels. Excited to show them off, she wore them to her next party. Laughing gaily, she glanced across the room and saw … her shoes—on another woman’s feet.
Earlier in the year, she’d spent weeks hunting down the perfect pair for her October wedding. She’d wanted shoes that were classic and elegant, shoes no other bride in St. Louis would be wearing. She ranted daily to her fiancé, who finally said, “Do something about it.” In that moment, something crystallized. Bryan quit her insurance-sales job to open a high-end shoe boutique, and in less than a year her Wish had come true.
Located in the Ladue Marketplace, Wish is run on the premise that when it comes to shoes, exclusivity is key. Why spend a couple hundred dollars on designer pumps if everyone else in town has the exact same pair? Bryan conducts exhaustive research to find designers whose shoes can’t be found at other St. Louis stores, then orders a very limited number of pairs in each style—usually no more than eight, or one in each size.
Wish | 9675 Clayton | 314-432-0800 | www.wishshoes.com
