Italian shoes are celebrated the world over. They look great and last forever. And we’re lucky enough that we don’t even have to travel to Italy to stock up one the latest footwear.
Rosemarie, the owner of cherri bellini is Adelaide’s inside connection to the world of Italian shoes. Her passion for high quality products and love for helping customers was and still is the motivation behind her now thriving Adelaide business. You would have seen her unmissable, red store front on Rundle Street.
Cherri bellini pride themselves on being able to offer quite an immersive customer experience. They’ll make you an Italian coffee, talk you through the entire try on process and let us just say – you can never try enough shoes!
The concept of cherri bellini was born from from Rosemarie’s desire to import unique, original and well made shoes to Adelaide. “I personally only buy shoes overseas because of the quality and different styles available” says Rosemarie, “I knew that there must be other ladies out there that also felt this gap in the choices we had at home in Australia.”
Her love for shoes began in her high school years. “I was always a large girl and going shopping for clothes just didn’t give me that feel good feeling when I was younger. However, shopping for shoes was a different story! If the shoe didn’t fit, I felt comfortable asking for another size without hesitation or restriction.”
“A new pair of shoes will ALWAYS make you feel fabulous and fashionable, regardless of the season and latest clothing trends”, says Rose.
“Through all those shopping expeditions with friends, I started to realise what I really wanted were shoes that were unique and made well!’ But what did that mean?
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After a family to trip to Italy in 2000, Rosemarie found the majority of shoes produced there were handcrafted using genuine local leathers that, after a few wears, felt like they were made for her. The designs were also unique and unlike anything she’d found in Australia.
Once back in Adelaide after the family holiday, Rose searched to find more leather shoes and especially the types of handcrafted beauties that she had found in Italy.
“Long story made longer, I had fallen in love with not only the Italian culture, lifestyle and passion for life but also their ability to design and produce extremely good quality leather shoes. I wanted to share what I had discovered and decided to launch cherri bellini, and felt very strongly about opening up the shop on Rundle St.’
As a result of her love for all things Italy, Rose now resides in Florence, with her Italian husband and little bambino.“Living in Italy means I’m able to spend one-on-one time discussing and designing with the crafts people who make the cherri bellini collections. I can ensure everything we handpick are amazingly designed with an impeccable high quality finish.”.
“When it comes to the cherri bellini client, our customers are varied. We have a core selection of ladies, our VIPs, who we are able to cater to their every need from knowing their shoe size, favourite colour and we even how they take their coffee! That’s right, we will even make you a long or short black while you browse and try. It’s all part of the ultimate shopping experience we want to offer our best clients at cherri bellini.”
“Some people are taken aback when we unpack the shoes, drop on our knees and fit the shoe. It’s a level of service that we feel is lacking in the industry.”
Knowing our clients shoe sizes and taste also means we can spot a style ahead of them arriving in Italy, and contact the client direct before the shoes are even available to the general public.
As we are very different to other shoe stores in Adelaide – and indeed around the country – we have many travellers that stop by the shop each time they are in town. Most found us on one of their visits and they can’t help but drop by each time they are back in town.
Find out more via their Website, Facebook page and Instagram.
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