Kay and Adolfo Torrez’s first business practically named itself.
After the two fell in love at first sight when they met at a bar and married soon after, they wanted to start a Mexican restaurant in downtown Phoenix in 1946.
When the two found a location, near where the Phoenix Convention Center now sits, they asked the real estate agent if the sign on the building still worked. When they plugged it in, it lit up, “Azteca Mexican American Food,” their son, Gregory Torrez, said.
The name stuck and soon became the name of all the couple’s businesses, which grew to include a bar, furniture store, flower shop, before making way for what would become an entire city block devoted to the bridal industry near 10th and Washington streets, Azteca Wedding Plaza.
Kay and Adolfo have both passed away, leaving the business to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The bridal business has remained in the family for six decades, but it is getting ready to permanently shut its doors.
“We are very proud of what my mother and father did,” Torrez said. “My mom and dad gave life to it, and we will retire it, and keep all the memories.”
Torrez and his siblings, Royna and Raoul, who are in their 60s and 70s, have decided to retire and close the business. Selling Azteca to someone outside the family did not feel right, Torrez’s daughter, Josephine Torrez, said.
The family has sold the building to a real estate investor, and the site will ultimately be redeveloped. Years ago, they had sold a portion of the property, which has been converted into apartments.
Before closing completely, the store will make sure to fulfill all existing orders for weddings and quinceañeras and has deeply discounted its in-store sample dresses and dresses that can be sold off the rack.
Torrez said the final day of operation will be November 30. In early 2024, the family plans to have a celebration to formally say goodbye to the store and thank clients who have been loyal for decades.
Seven decades of growing a business
Kay and Adolfo began building businesses together in 1946, starting with the restaurant, using recipes passed down from Adolfo’s mother, Torrez said. Around 1953, the two opened the flower shop, and around 1956 they started the furniture business.
When they moved to the location on Washington and 10th streets, the family lived in an apartment connected to the flower shop. Over the years, most of the family members at some point have lived in the neighborhood right behind the plaza, Sophia Rosell, Kay and Adolfo’s great-granddaughter said.
Torrez remembers cutting and preparing flowers to be arranged and sold when he was a child, learning some of the basics of the family business. After his dad unsuccessfully pitched a funeral business to his mother, they decided “if we can’t bury them, we will marry them instead,” and the two started looking at the wedding apparel industry.
In 1960, Kay went to New York to look at bridal fashion and make some contacts in the industry, and in June of that year, the bridal shop opened.
The store expanded to include tuxedos and menswear in 1965, when Torrez was in a wedding and the tuxedo he was wearing didn’t fit right. His mother, Kay, said if they couldn’t get it to fit, she would have to open her own tuxedo shop.
Over the years, the family built additions to the structure, adding on to the shop in 1969, 1976 and again in 1985, to build out the entire plaza.
“At the height of the business, we had the full plaza, you could walk from one street to the other,” Torrez’s daughter, Josephine Torrez, said.
Generations of family
Josephine Torrez has worked in the store since childhood. She got her start by stuffing pillows used in the church services and began working with clients when she was about 12 or 13, she said.
She plans to stay in the wedding industry, she has already been working as a wedding coordinator and will focus on that going forward.
Kelvin Nova Jr., one of Kay and Adolfo’s great-grandchildren, worked at the store when he was younger, specializing in quinceañeras.
“I got hired to help around the store, move dresses around, and I kind of slithered my way into sales,” he said.
Nova said he fondly remembers playing with his cousins in the store, and often working as a model in the fashion shows because he was one of the few boys who was available to do it. One of his best memories growing up was trying on the formal military attire when he was little.
Sophia Rosell said she has been around the shop since she could walk.
“I used to imagine wearing any of the dresses,” she said. She started modeling at the quinceañera shows and ended up getting her own quinceañera dress at the shop, which happened to be designed by her uncle.
Rosell said when she officially started working in the shop, she likely came in with more knowledge of the industry than any other employees, based on how much time she spent there.
“I remember when I first sold something, I was so proud of myself,” she said.
Lola Rosell, Kay and Adolfo’s great-granddaughter, said she also got started in the store modeling some of the kids wear, and she loves remembering watching brides try on dresses and asking her opinion on how they looked.
“It’s amazing that my grandma has a company here,” she said. “This is my home.”
A staple in the community
The store was a destination for generations of brides and their families, Josephine Torrez said. It was common to see a family whose grandmother had gotten her wedding dress there, and later brought her daughter for a wedding dress or a granddaughter for a quinceañera dress.
When the store first opened, it was one of few standalone wedding dress stores, Gregory Torrez said. Because of the family’s last name, and the store’s name, Azteca, it quickly became a popular place for the Hispanic community to come for dresses.
“My grandfather spoke Spanish, and in formal stores, not a lot of people spoke Spanish,” Josephine Torrez said. “It made people feel welcome.”
The store began carrying quinceañera dresses after Royna, Kay and Adolfo’s daughter, had her quinceañera, a staple coming-of-age rite of passage for girls in the Latino community, Josephine Torrez said. Often, girls who got a quinceañera dress at Azteca came back years later for a wedding dress.
“A lot of our employees are bilingual, and I think people feel like they can be themselves, because we are bilingual,” Sophia Rosell said.
The family and business were also very involved in the community, the family members said. The store often donated formal wear to schools for groups like choirs, or dresses for students who could not afford them for formal events, or for weddings for military members.
Happy, but emotional
Since announcing their retirement and the impending closure of the store, the family has gotten messages from customers who have patronized Azteca over the decades.
“It’s just beautiful,” Gregory Torrez said. “People remember how important the business was.”
Torrez said he will miss the customers who have shopped there for generations.
“It’s happy that it’s a retirement, but it is emotional,” he said. “There are a lot of people who have great memories here.”
What’s next for the site
The family sold the site for the store in mid-October to David McHenry, a longtime real estate investor, Ray Cashen, the real estate broker who represented the Torrez family, said.
Any future plans for the site have not yet been finalized, Cashen said. The site has an overlay that could allow up to 10 stories, and allowed uses could include residential, retail or hospitality. A redevelopment of the site would likely need to go through the rezoning process, Cashen said.
Cashen said McHenry is interested in some kind of plaque or marker that will honor the Torrez family in the future redevelopment.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @CorinaVanek.
Credit: Source link