'Hannah's Shoebox' offers perfect fit to pre-teen girls with larger shoe sizes

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Finding the right pair of shoes is a challenge for 9-year-old Saniya Gauthier, but a Tampa mother came up with a solution for girls like her. Colette Glover-Hannah created "Hannah's Shoebox," which caters to "tween" girls who wear larger shoe sizes.

"I came up with 'Hannah's Shoebox' because I was blessed to have a daughter with big feet, so my daughter's age kept matching her shoe size. From the time she was 5 years old until she was 11, so I had a 5-year-old in a size 5, and 11-year-old in a size 11," said Glover-Hannah.

Saniya's mother, Gilene Janvier, said her daughter wears a size 9 in shoes at the age of 9.

"Hannah's Shoebox provides us with an opportunity for her to find shoes that are, in my opinion, age-appropriate and comfortable for her," said Janvier.

"Most of the shoes are like high heels and I'm like not rocking with it," said her daughter, Gauthier. "Makes me feel good that I don't have to go and wear high heels to school.”

These girls can face other problems. 

"They get bullied because their shoes more often than not don't look like everyone else's they tend to be. For example, we had a girl who could only wear boys' shoes, because she was a size 14 and she was in eighth grade, so imagine what she was experiencing because she couldn't wear a cute pair of sandals," said Glover-Hannah.

Hannah's Shoebox is helping to fill a void in the shoe industry. 

"Making sure that our girls get the shoes that they want. It's fun, they're fashionable and they just have a great time shopping with us and wearing our shoes and that makes it worthwhile for us," said Glover-Hannah.

Gauthier is so happy with her shoes, she literally dances.

"I really like that she's comfortable and it's kid friendly and most of all she's happy,” said Janvier.

"It's like I just found a shoe trophy," Gauthier added.

LINK: For more information about Hannah's Shoebox, head to the company's website.