Red Shoes, the beloved gift shop that sold artwork, vintage items, and unusual objects, closed following the death in December of owner Catherine Thursby, who died of complications that followed surgery, according to her obituary on MLive.com.

Thursby, an artist, founded Red Shoes on Ashley St. in 2004 and moved to Lamp Post Plaza on E. Stadium two years ago (Observer, November 2019).

But in those years, Red Shoes closed several times, while Thursby underwent treatment for breast cancer and during her mother’s breast cancer battle.

At the Stadium location, Red Shoes’ displays included everything from hand- crafted potholders to decorated canvas bags, a large birdcage, and a children’s section with stuffed animals.

Quaint and cozy, the shop echoed the original location in a house on Ashley. But Thursby bristled at some descriptions of her inventory.

“I hate the word ‘whimsical,'” she told the Observer’s Sabine Bickford at the time. “I can’t stand that word. A lot of people describe me as that, and it drives me bonkers. I like to say that I’m fun and playful…

“I really am a lucky person,” she added, “even though it seems like I’ve been unlucky.”