By Leah Berard
The Bisbee Observer
Claire Harlin and Justin Luria are one of Bisbee’s power couples. As owners of three businesses in town- Classic Rock Couture, Dot’s Diner and Shady Dell- they are a community staple. Between all the businesses, they employ a couple dozen people in town. Knowing that brings them joy and drives them to continue to serve the community they both love.
Although Harlin’s focus is Classic Rock Couture, located at 38 Main Street (originally a JC Penney building built in 1904), and Luria’s is Dot’s Diner and Shady Dell, 1 Old Douglas Road.The two didn’t become a power couple by not supporting each other’s dreams and not rolling up their sleeves to get dirty with each other when the going got tough.
After Harlin and Luria met on Bumble in 2016, their first date was a “doggy date” with their pups, wine tasting in
Sonoita. They immediately hit it off, mostly due to their shared love of all things vintage, and they quickly found themselves balancing a blossoming relationship with their budding businesses.
Harlin was splitting time between Tucson and Bisbee, with Luria splitting time between his hometown of Phoenix and Bisbee. “I had never been a business owner before the Shady Dell,” said Luria. “It was definitely an ‘all in’ moving to Bisbee from Phoenix to run this business and to invest everything I had in to it.”
Originally from Oklahoma, Harlin has been a vintage clothing collector for years, selling cowboy boots and other apparel on Etsy for over a decade. After living in San Diego for five years, working as an editor for a scientific journal by day and working in production for a bilingual newspaper she helped start by night, fate intervened.
When Harlin was laid off from her day job in 2014, she ended up landing in Tucson, shortly before she started her online store. A friend of hers who lived there offered her a cheap deal on rent she couldn’t refuse. “I was working in production as my moonlight gig, and thrifting and selling online in my other time,” said Harlin. Then, the newspaper folded.
Fortunately, she decided to follow her heart and take her side hustle to the next level. “I was having more fun doing the clothing thing, and I went with it,” said Harlin. That led her to opening her first brick-and-mortar store in Bisbee in November of 2017 (and moving to town full-time), thanks to her mentor from a Tucson business-incubator program being the catalyst.
The first location was across the street from where it currently is. Although she was the only one working in the store daily when she first opened her doors, the business quickly grew when she started designing clothing, leading her to hire her first employee.
When the JC Penney building became available in 2020, Harlin jumped at the chance to move into the historic building, where she envisioned Classic Rock Couture’s headquarters. The 70s-themed retail shop’s custom designs are globally recognized. Actors, singers and other notable celebrities have donned Harlin’s signature designs, bringing people from around the world to Bisbee each year.
Luria discovered Bisbee and the Shady Dell 18 years ago, and he especially fell in love with the Shady Dell. After that, his dream was to own it, which came true two years later when it went up for sale. “When I first decided to buy a vintage trailer park in Bisbee, my family thought I was nuts,” said Luria. “But they came down and saw it and saw the charm of Bisbee and of the Shady Dell. My mom Annette was very supportive of me to follow my dream as a business owner.”
With experience in the food/hospitality industry, working in restaurants when he was younger, as well as working an internship in Oaxaca, Mexico at a hotel/restaurant, and with the bonus of studying hospitality and small business entrepreneurship in college, Luria was ready to add Dot’s Diner to his résumé.
The diner, which is in a vintage 1957 Valentine Diner, came with the property purchase, and Luria decided he wanted to run it. “When I purchased the Shady Dell, it came with the diner onsite,” said Luria. “It had always been leased out, but I wanted to run the diner and have quality control of the aesthetic of it and quality of food.” As a casualty of the Recession, the diner shuttered its doors in 2010; however, Luria decided, to reopen it 10 years later, with help from his good friend, Mike Clements. That day, March 15, 2020, started out with great joy and ended with what felt like a dream was about to be deferred. That date was the infamous day COVID-19 locked down the country, dampening Luria’s spirits.
Harlin jumped in to give Luria a positive pep talk, keeping Luria’s dream to own the Shady Dell alive. “I remember telling Justin that we didn’t do this all for nothing,” said Harlin. “So, he was out there delivering food with his motorcycle and sidecar, and we were doing everything possible to get customers during that time.”
The hard work has recently paid off, as Dot’s Diner was named “Top 100 Bites” by PHOENIX magazine. They chose the best 100 dishes in Arizona, and Luria and his staff were recognized for their Tofu Bites. The Shady Dell was also featured in Travel + Leisure magazine for “Top Unique Places to Stay.”
Their two kids, Winnie, 6, and Hazel, 4, have been with them through much of their journey, and it has taken a village to help keep family and the businesses afloat. “There’s no way a couple can each run separate businesses and also run a family without it all being a collective group effort,” said Harlin. “We just put our energy wherever it’s needed most at that time, and with Justin and I both being lovers and collectors of vintage things, we have had a lot of fun doing things like that together.”
Classic Rock Couture is open from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Friday 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., as well as online 24/7 at classicrockcouture.com. Dot’s Diner is open Friday-Monday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Go to theshadydell.com to view the menu or to book a vintage trailer.