Downtown Tucsonan
Published, August 2006
by Mae Lee Sun
hortly after noon on a Saturday, Claudette Myers arrives at 27 N. Stone Avenue to open the doors to her enchanting women’s boutique, Desert Bloom. “You’re late Claudette! I’ve got to have those shoes I tried on yesterday. You didn’t sell them, did you?”, a loyal customer teases, yet undoubtedly knows that her fashion dream may have been thwarted by someone who called Myers, the evening before, asking her to remain open so she could pick up those very same shoes. After all, Friday is ‘shoe’ day, a day when the UPS man arrives like Santa Claus with boxes of four-inch stilettos, sequined espadrilles, rhinestone-covered slippers and simple business-style pumps. This scenario is one of many played out seven days a week in a place that women–and the men who love them–have come to adore since July 2003.
