What Is LUXE in West Sacramento? Luxe is more than just a small, family-owned boutique. Let’s go back a few years. I met Debbie in 1993 when I was a delivery driver for Coca-Cola and she was working in the kitchen at McGeorge School of Law. The kitchen manager told me she thought I was cute — and when I got back to the plant, I called the kitchen and asked her out. We hit it off quickly and got married in September 1994. We were an active couple, playing co-ed softball and going out on adventures. In 1996, I got a state job and we moved to Salinas. It was a difficult time for Debbie, living away from her family and friends, but we kept exploring, and even joined a co-ed softball league there. Debbie made new friends and started to settle in. Then she told me she was pregnant. I was ecstatic. We welcomed our daughter Hannah, the most beautiful, amazing little girl. Debbie loved being a mom, but she missed West Sacramento deeply. On one of her visits home, she signed up for a mailing list for new homes being built there. When we got the letter, we knew it was our ticket back home. We moved into our new house in 2000. I continued working in Salinas for a while, and Debbie stayed home taking care of Hannah and making our house a home. In 2001, I transferred to Tracy, just a one-hour commute. In 2002, we welcomed our second daughter, Macy. Around this time, Debbie started noticing strange symptoms. Her right hand tingled, and she struggled in her aerobics class. After doctor visits and a nerve conduction test, she was diagnosed with multifocal motor neuropathy. The neurologist explained the condition and the treatment — IVIG infusions. We thought she’d get treatment and be fine. IVIG helped, but only slowed the progression. Debbie’s veins didn’t always cooperate, and the infusions were difficult. Over the next 22 years, she went from one foot brace to two, lost the use of her right arm, and eventually relied on a scooter full time. She also developed an issue with her left eye that surgeries couldn’t fully correct. But through it all, she never let her condition stop her. We went to every softball and soccer game for our girls. We vacationed, explored, and lived life. In 2012, I moved to a graveyard shift so I could take the girls to games while caring for Debbie. She had stopped driving and needed support, but she never stopped showing up for our family. In 2017, LuxeLiving opened in the Target shopping center by Round Table Pizza. Debbie loved the store and asked the owner, Stephanie, to hire Hannah, who was a senior in high school. When the store moved to Folsom in 2018, Hannah continued working there. In 2019, Hannah told Debbie that Stephanie wanted to sell the boutique — and encouraged her mom to buy it, bring it back to West Sacramento, and run it together. Debbie was excited, but nervous because of her disability and lack of business experience. After months of talking and dreaming, she decided to go for it. We found a space on Jefferson Blvd and waited for it to open. We moved everything from Folsom to West Sacramento, and I helped build the inside of the store while still working full-time and caring for Debbie. On December 7, 2019, Luxe reopened under Debbie’s ownership — and it was an incredible moment. But then 2020 arrived, and the pandemic shut everything down. We closed for over a month and struggled through capacity limits and financial stress. It was a scary time and incredibly hard on Debbie emotionally. In 2021, things started improving. People came back. Luxe became a place where Debbie could laugh, talk, shop for inventory from her iPad, and connect with her community. She made friends. Customers became family. Luxe became her outlet — her purpose. When customers asked for help finding gifts or outfits, she lit up. Luxe wasn’t just a store — it became Debbie’s girl-gang hangout spot, her social world, her joy. But the last few years have been tough. The economy stretched everyone thin. Sales declined. Every dollar earned went right back into keeping the doors open. We’ve fought hard, but it’s been a difficult battle. We don’t know exactly what the future holds for Luxe, for Debbie, Hannah, or myself. But we do know this: we are better people because of Luxe. We’ve met incredible friends and built relationships we will cherish forever. Luxe is more than a small business. It has been a lifeline for Debbie — a place where she feels joy, purpose, and community.

https://www.facebook.com/Luxewestsac?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr