Blogs

FFANY Shoes on Sale: Through the Years

by on ‎10-17-2012 01:39 PM

In 1995, I heard we were planning a new show called “Shoes on Sale” where we would raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research and education. As a volunteer in the fight against cancer, since like so many families, our family had been affected by cancer, I went on a full-court press to do the show and luckily, they said yes!  We took many trips to New York to visit FFANY headquarters and to meet with the designers who were so generously donating the shoes.


Shoes on Sale 1995


The event actually began the year before in New York, spearheaded by the then president of FFANY, Dick Jacobson, who had also been touched in his family by the disease.  So many people showed up to buy shoes in the tent set up in New York that he was looking for a way to reach more women….enter QVC!  Thanks to the vision of our then CEO, Doug Briggs, we said yes and started on this amazing journey.


The day of the show we honestly didn’t know if anyone would tune in and buy! Since there wasn’t QVC.com or even automated ordering in those days (it was amazing we even had cameras…..ha ha), we had people waiting on the phone for hours.  Some of the celebrity designers like Kenneth Jay Lane even manned a phone bank to help take orders for the shoes.


The event has grown every year and this year I am honored to be co-hosting with Nancy Hornback, a beautiful spirit, a dear friend, and a survivor!!  We’ll see you at 5PM eastern on Wednesday, October 24th for three hours of the most important shoe shopping we will ever do!


-Jane