Sheila Caputo is the new owner of the now legendary Sisters Warehouse, a boutique fashion emporium that got its start 20 years ago in Southampton.

She is celebrating two decades of retail success by taking the sale on the road. “I am anxious, proud, nervous, and excited, all at once, to launch the Sisters Warehouse Sale in Picton,” she says.

The brainchild of Delores of Sisters on Huron, Sisters has developed a stellar reputation for quality and price — and a cult following.

Most of the staff work the sale so they can buy the clothes, getting in before the crowd arrives, and in Southampton, where it has run once a year for the past 20 years, and now twice, the town is jammed on warehouse sale weekends.

“It might take a bit of time to establish in Picton,
but the small shops in Southampton love the weekend of the Sale
because they are busy, too. Our customers like to shop.
The restaurants are sold out, the inns are sold out,
Southampton is buzzing when we are there.

—Sheila Caputo

“Picton is already a busy place, I know, but it might be just a bit busier this weekend.” 

To the Trade

Sheila has a lifetime of experience in the trade. She started in the 1990s at Hudson’s Bay, where she worked in both the wholesale and retail sides of the clothing business.

She left in 2000 to work exclusively in wholesale, importing European footwear for smaller retailers.

“When the pandemic hit, I had to get creative. I wanted to do a pop-up sale but something unique, a boutique warehouse sale. So I called the expert, Delores, who I knew ran the Sisters Warehouse Sale in Southampton.”

It turned out Delores, who was approaching 70, was on the lookout for a successor. “She invited me to visit — and after I’d spent one day at the Sale I said, I want to buy it.”

The two spent that year working together.

“She so gracefully passed the torch, she spent an entire year beside me, teaching me how to run the sale.”

For her part, Sheila brought with her a lifelong network of trade contacts across Europe and North America. She sources clothing and footwear directly from European importers and distributors across Canada, as well as from wholesalers working in Poland, Turkey, and Italy.

“We come in after the spring/fall season sales are over in stores. In retail, those sales start in March. If in August a wholesaler has excess inventory stored in a warehouse, they will sell it to us at a steep discount.

“We pass that discount on to our clients.

“That is how we are able to offer European brands you won’t find in a department store or at the mall.”

Sisters is stocked with Italian linens, leather footwear, and excellent Canadian designers such as Marie Saint Pierre, who is very well known in Quebec and Miami, Mélissa Nepton, Bylyse, an affordable Canadian designer, and dresses by Scapa, a husband-and-wife team who import European fabrics they cut and sew in Montreal.

At trade shows in Toronto, Montreal, Las Vegas, and Italy, Sheila has forged a network of European connections. She buys directly from factories and dealers.

“They know we are going to protect the brand and the brand name. If there’s another shop in town selling that brand, we are not going to undercut them. That is very important to us.

“That is why those in the trade will sell to us before a major discounter like Winners or a discount warehouse. The Sisters Warehouse Sale operates like a boutique, with fitting rooms, and attentive staff. We have a reputation to protect.

“We respect and work with the communities we enter.”

She hopes to establish a feeling of collaboration with other fashion retailers across the County, and is delighted the Sale will coincide with the end of Picton Fashion Week on Friday and Gather in the County, which is right next door in the Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“I’ve already booked the same hall for the same weekend as Gather next year, in 2026. This is not a one-off event. We want to establish a presence and a tradition in the County.”  

The Sisters Warehouse Sale is at the Picton Community Centre, 375 Picton Main Street, this weekend, June 6-8. Friday 9am-7pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 9-5.