Shermika Duerson was shopping in Rack Room for back to school shoes with her daughters and saw information for a contest the retailer was having. She knew the store had the contest, but this year, she decided to enter her family into it.
“We had just had family photos taken so I submitted it to the company,” said Shermika.
She thought if the family won, they’d probably receive a gift card and have their picture taken. To her surprise the family did win, and their prize was much more.
The Duerson family won the chance to be featured in seasonal advertisements for Rack Room Shoes across the country. 2013 “Models Wanted” families – including the Duersons – were selected from an entrant pool of nearly 3,000 applications.
“She didn’t tell me about this until we actually won,” laughed Donald Duerson, the patriarch of the family.
The family, who live in Cumberland, was flown to the Rack Room Shoes headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., and received a full photo shoot wearing Rack Room Shoes’ fall shoe fashions. Their image is featured in print and online ads and the company’s social media sites. There is also video featuring the Duersons.
“The hair and makeup was fun. This was a lot of fun to do,” said Ako, Shermika and Donald’s oldest daughter who is a senior at Herron High School.
Herron High School junior, Naomi Duerson and fourth grader Alica Duerson were also featured in the advertisements.
The Duerson’s are very pleased with the outcome of the competition and so are the Rack Room Shoes company execs. They love to shine a spotlight on real families who shop in their stores and the Duersons are great representatives of what they enjoy showcasing.
“The pictures the Duersons submitted conveyed so much enthusiasm. They had a sincerity and joy about them that we knew would shine in the ads. That authenticity encourages us to use real families year after year,” said Jan Mauldin, the director of marketing for Rack Room Shoes.
