THERE’S NO denying the family tradition at Clayton’s Shoe Store; it’s five generations deep and spans over a century. Customers become family once they enter the door, a natural byproduct of the connections between the staff and the store’s owners. Annie Osborne has worked on the square in Tullahoma for the last 71 years. She has worked for Goldstein’s, Small World, Taylor’s Pharmacy, and Clayton’s, where you will still find her working every Thursday. In her opinion, you may enter as a customer, but you’ll leave as family.
When she was 19 years old, Osborne worked around the corner from Clayton’s at the dime store. She enjoyed her work but knew it wasn’t her best fit, so her employer recommended her to Robert Ratcliff at the shoe store a few doors down where her story and the Clayton family story intersect.
She only left the square for two years when she lived in California. Even then, she was thinking of Clayton’s and brought back ideas for sale shoe racks to Robert Ratcliff, who went right to work building one. It’s the sale rack you still see today in the store.
What keeps her there after all these years?
“The people who have owned the store over the years. Florence, by the grace of her goodness, lets me come up to the store on Thursdays. I love to come up here and greet, dust, and still sell shoes while standing versus the fitting stool,” said Osborne. “Florence has been here a long time, and she’s just a wonderful lady. She has the best employees, too. The people are wonderful; they’re just another family for me.”
Florence Clayton Ratcliff Hull is the present owner and one of Robert’s three daughters. Annie has two sons, Tim Osborne and Mark Osborne, and a daughter, Joann Osborne Crabtree; four grandchildren, J.D. and Jake Crabtree, Garrett and Rachel Osborne; and six great-grandchildren. She also considers Florence’s children and grandchildren as her own.
“She’s like family to my family,” said Florence.
“We all love her to death. I love her dearly. She plays a huge role in my life, and we enjoy having her at the store so much,” said Florence. “I’ve learned a lot from her over the years, from life to fitting shoes to customer service.”
Annie’s age is just a number.
Florence continued, “Annie may not be able to get around like she did in her younger years, but she plays a big role as our greeter and making sure our customers are taken care of each Thursday. She’s done her share for nearly a quarter of a century while keeping her unique sense of humor.”
Annie quickly recalled how Florence’s daddy, Robert, dealt with a customer who was a bit hard to please and retold it as if it were yesterday.
Annie said, “We had a customer, and no matter how much we tried and tried to find her a shoe, it was not happening. One day, Robert saw her coming, and he dropped to the floor in the front of the store and crawled on his knees to the back. I never will forget it.”
She’s seen many changes in the retail business through the years, from heating and cooling to registers to the computer era, which is not her favorite.
“When I came here, you didn’t wear pants; you wore dresses. I worked side-saddle on the fitting stool,” Annie said. “There were no air conditioners, and I remember by 10 a.m., we would be so hot. We had fans, but that was it.”
She might have missed out on Clayton’s if she’d followed the direction she’d prepared for in high school.
She said, “I took clerical classes in high school, preparing me to get a job in an office, keeping books for someone. But life has a funny way of putting you where you need to be. I was thankful to be working in the public. That was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
She worked at Clayton’s Shoe Store and Taylor’s Pharmacy, which were side by side on the square.
Annie said, “I never found myself leaving the square. I brought my children with me when they were young when needed.”
Annie is a two-time survivor of non- Hodgkins lymphoma. Doctors discovered it first when she was 78. Six chemo treatments later, and she was in remission. Then, she found a knot in her face and sought medical attention. At age 81, the cancer was back.
“This is when I was the sickest. I got pneumonia when I started my treatments. I was on my fourth when pneumonia surfaced. They kept me in the hospital for 10 days, and I went to NHC for five weeks. One thing I want others to know is I never missed a paycheck. Florence is a wonderful person and helped me in so many ways along with my family and church,” said Annie.
Her Thursdays at the shoe store contribute to her overall physical and mental health.
Florence said, “Being able to come up here has given her a chance to meet new people and see people that she’d never get the opportunity to see. It’s been a wonderful opportunity for her to keep going.”
Annie, who celebrated her 90th birthday in 2023, enjoys life today as much as ever and was selected to serve as the grand marshal of the 2023 Tullahoma Christmas Parade.
“I’m old, but that’s alright. It’s been a good life,” she said. “I’ve been blessed with an amazing family and great friends, and I’m thankful. It has been a great journey. There have been some sad things, but there’s been a lot of good things. God has been good to me. I just live each day loving everyone I can, and I love Jesus. That’s it.” GN
