She carries on Mom and Pop's business

She's run the business by herself since her mother, Charlotte, died of cancer last year at the age of 91. Charlotte Miller loved the Southwest, loved the store she helped open 70 years ago and loved to help customers find a little treasure.

A customer's delight is now bittersweet for Toni.

"It's depressing because I can't share it. I want to be able to say, 'Look, Mother, look at what so-and-so is buying,'" she said. "She adored this business. She adored every aspect of it."

Toni Miller's mother and her father, Charlie Miller, opened Miller Curio in Tucson at least 70 years ago. Toni Miller has been unable to document when the Colorado store opened and, before her death, her mother couldn't remember if the business first opened in 1934 or 1936. The store sells turquoise and American Indian jewelry, as well as an assortment of books, rugs, clothing and metal decorations, all with a Southwest theme.

The business here spun off the couple's Miller Indian Village in Estes Park, Colo., about 60 miles northwest of Denver.

In the summers, Toni Miller's parents would run the larger Colorado store. In the winters, they would come to Tucson to run the smaller store, which has been housed in a number of locations. The store has been at 1724 E. Speedway since 1979. Since the move there, it's survived traffic construction along Speedway in the late 1980s and competition from an ever-increasing pool of gift shops and other stores that sell Southwest products.

The last 25 years haven't been easy, said Miller.

"It doesn't matter what business you're in, you have competition. You have people copying you. You can only say 'poor me' so long," Miller said. "You can't try to change yourself each time. You just have to concentrate on what do we do well."

Both Toni Miller and her mother have always done that to keep their small business afloat, said JoAnne Schneider, owner of Bentley's coffee house, 1730 E. Speedway, a neighbor.

Charlotte Miller was a fixture in the area. Before becoming sick, she could be seen walking to and from work seven days a week, Schneider said. Every afternoon, she would come into Bentley's to eat her avocado-and-cheese sandwich for lunch and to read the New Yorker magazine. After lunch, it was back to work..

"Toni is carrying on that tradition to remember her mother. That's how I see it," Schneider said.

Maynard Stout, a customer for the last five years, said he loved going into the store not just because of Toni and her mother, but for the assortment of Zuni fetish items and unique jewelry.

"I loved Toni's mother. Toni is just a wonderful person. She's honest. She knows everything. They have some jewelry that probably wouldn't be seen off the reservation," Stout said. "Things are just arranged and they're just there, kind of. That's one of the reasons I love Toni's store."

Miller admits she doesn't tend to the arrangement of goods in the store as much as her mother did. She does try to sort through the business's inventory to put the most prized items on display.

The store will remain open for the foreseeable future, Miller said, because she's "slower than most glaciers" to change.

Being at the store helps her remember her mother.

SEE on the job / D5

Name: Toni Miller

Age: 59

Job: Co-owner, Miller Curio Co., 1724 E. Speedway

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