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When Robyn Walters decided to open her own nursery, she didn’t have to think twice about the name. “Viola is my grandmother,” Walters says. “She wasn’t alive when I started the store, but her name fit perfectly with what I was doing.” 

Walters had worked at a nursery for a long time and says she really enjoyed it. “I love working with flowers and I love helping customers, so starting my own nursery kind of just happened,” she adds. “I decided to open up and sell some flowers for a couple of months, and then I was planning to move.”

Like many people born and raised in Arizona, Brandon Redd’s childhood memories include the intense heat of a desert summer — and how it dimmed the joy of being out of school. Whether it was playing sports or hanging out with friends, Redd recalls wanting to be outdoors but often being limited by the summer heat. 

“I remember, when I was really young, I heard the term ‘scorching hot,’ ” Redd says. “And that’s when I knew what it meant when my skin would itch in the heat.”

It’s counterintuitive to think that mismatched socks could be a catalyst for social change, but at Voyce Threads, that’s exactly what’s happening.

It might be the hot pink building trim that catches your eye, or it could be the mouthwatering pastries in the window display that grab you. Whatever it is, you’ll feel compelled to stop at Patisserie Jacqui when you drive by. The circa-1950s decor and full pastry case might fool you into thinking you’re at a French bakery, but Jackie Oatman (pictured) has brought classic French pastries to Bisbee, nearly 5,500 miles from Paris.

“We just want to see people on bikes,” Greg Miranda says of his motivation to run a bicycle shop in Cottonwood. Miranda and his partner, Kelly Zahoudanis (pictured), took over Verde Valley Bicycle Co. in August 2021. The previous owner wanted to pass the store on to someone who shared his vision for making the shop a community-oriented business. And Miranda, a lifelong cyclist with a passion for giving back, was the perfect fit.

Editor's Note: Cider Corps announced the closing of its Gilbert location at the end of 2022. The company is planning to expand its Mesa location and continue operations from there.

The jewelry at Little Toro Designs may be delicate, but creating it is hard work. For Tawney Weir (pictured), it’s a labor of love to create each unique piece, and she says she’s always learning more about her craft. 

As far as ingredients go, toffee isn’t complicated — it’s mostly sugar and butter. The sticky, sweet treat isn’t hard to make, confectioners say. It’s just hard to make it right. 

There once was a tiny bottle that lived tucked away inside a family’s refrigerator. On its surface, the container wasn’t really anything special, but it did hold a secret — one that could be unlocked only with a little spoon. Then, one day, that bottle and the top-secret concoction inside became the foundation and inspiration for Arizona’s breakout hot sauce company. 

The Boyer Bakery was created in the same place many childhood memories are made: around the family’s kitchen counter. “Our mom, Mama [Liz] Boyer, would bake for family and friends, neighbors and co-workers,” says Abby Boyer (pictured), the eldest Boyer child. “Being able to grow up with a mom in a household that did so much baking from scratch was really neat for us, as children, to grow and see.”