Go Girl Fashions is a mobile pop-up shop

Creating jobs for Islanders -

You’ve probably seen the brightly painted Go Girl Fashions and Accessories bus driving around Prince Edward Island, but what you probably didn’t know is that inside is a former Islander anxious to return here for good.

Owner Paulette Barke, who grew up in Searletown but has lived in Calgary for almost four decades, has always had a soft spot for Prince Edward Island. On her summer trips home she had always noticed a lack of clothes-shopping options for women in the Summerside area.

So when she turned 50 in 2014 she asked herself, “what do I want to do when I grow up?”

First she threw a jewelry party at her summer home in Chelton Beach. It went so well she opened Go Girl Fashions as a boutique pop-up shop at Credit Union Place, which was so successful that in May 2015 she decided it was time for a permanent location (at 215 Wyatt Crescent in Summerside).

Now she has expanded her clothing sales to include “the fashion mobile” a full boutique on wheels.

“It’s been well received, we have a good following,” she said. “We can bring shopping to your doorstep,” adding that sizing runs from two to 22.

She promotes her European and Canadian designer lines with fashion shows every spring and fall.

Barke and her husband spent five weeks on Prince Edward Island this summer, and their eventual goal is to sell the printing and engraving shop they’ve run in Calgary for 40 years and move home.

“It’s been an awesome summer," she said. It’s just so beautiful here."