July 1, 2010
Darren Rhodes and Ari Shapiro are local merchants who share common traits: They have homegrown businesses, each had two locations when they met, and each had been thinking the third location should be in downtown Tucson, but wasn't quite sure he should proceed.
Add a friendly dare to the mix and you get the latest update on their similarities: A third facility for each of them in downtown Tucson that's doing better than anticipated.
“It was funny, I had a little back and forth with Darren from Yoga Oasis where we knew each other, about each other’s businesses and I said to him, 'Well, if you go down I’ll go downtown' and he said, 'if you go down I’ll go downtown,'" says Ari Shapiro, owner of Xoom Juice which sells 100 % natural juices and other healthy drinks.
"And we continued to kind of talk like that, sort of challenging each other almost, and encouraging each other," says Darren Rhodes, owner of Yoga Oasis. "And then he went for it, he signed the lease and when he signed the lease myself and my managers agreed it was time to take the leap.”
Now Darren Rhodes has "YO Downtown" on Congress Street, where the former Martin Luther King building has been turned into One North Fifth apartments which includes retail space on an added street level. Shapiro's third Xoom is just a few feet away.
So a blossoming friendship is also leading to financial and personal gain.
“What we’ve noticed most is that by saying yes to this studio downtown it’s lifting up and evolving our other two studios. It’s progressing even our vision for what we want YO to be, ” says Rhodes.
The new friends and business neighbors say it's one of the best decisions they've ever made, and they look forward to growing with the area. Shapiro adds, “I think my ideal downtown being a New York, San Francisco guy is a vibrant community being the key word and not to block out chains or anything like that but you know, local organically grown businesses tend to thrive in good downtowns and then the downtowns tend to thrive because of them. “
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