Two years ago I found myself in the rather daunting position of moving in with my boyfriend Bryce and moving to a new city at the same time. We made the drive from Houghton to Marquette — our soon to be home — and spent the day apartment hunting.
We had very little luck. Places had mostly been filled by NMU students and our options were further limited thanks to our little cat Earl, who despite her angel-status, couldn’t change the mind of “no pets allowed” landlords.
We had made several trips to Marquette and had been unlucky each time. So as we drove through the downtown, I was feeling disheartened, despite my partner’s assurances that all would work out.
Suddenly, our car pulled up to a stoplight and as I was dramatically looking out the window feeling sorry for myself, I saw a sign.
"Boomerang Retro & Relics"
As a lover of anything vintage, my interest was piqued, and I made Bryce stop. He patiently followed me around the store as I examined gorgeous clothing and unique nicknacks. Finally, I came across the thing I couldn’t leave without: A pair of yellow patent heels, with a dainty ankle strap, a chunky heel and a perfectly-placed bow embellishment on the toe.
I grabbed a size 8 and rushed to the counter where I was greeted by a man with a monocle and the most impressive mustache I’d ever seen. He chatted to me about my purchase, and how I liked Marquette.
It was a simple conversation, but I left Boomerang that day feeling a warmth for my new home that I hadn’t been able to find before.
As I walked back to our car with a leopard print bag holding my new possession, I turned to Bryce and said: “I want to work there.” We made the move a month later, and as luck would have it, a job opened up at Boomerang. I got my wish! But at the time I didn’t know that would happen.
That night, as I paraded around my apartment in my new shoes, all I knew was that everything would work out.
It did.
We found an apartment, made new friends and settled beautifully into our life in Marquette.
And it all started at Boomerang with a great pair of shoes.
