(May/June 2025) The first week of March, the team at Tuller Trophy & Awards in Tucson, Arizona, painted the sidewalk outside of the store’s main location gold to celebrate seven decades in business. They’ve painted the sidewalk gold every ten years for the last six decades, an idea the company’s founder Morton Tuller came up with.

“It’s such a fun, quirky tradition,” says Howard Tuller, Morton’s son and the owner and general manager of Tuller Trophy & Awards. “That was my dad. He would always do things a little out of the ordinary.”

Howard Tuller with Tye, Tyler, and Todd Stout. Tye and Todd (brothers) are managers at Tuller’s, and Tyler (Tye’s son) works at the Eastside store.
Courtesy of Tuller Trophy & Awards

Morton and his wife, Sylvia, founded Tuller Trophy & Awards in 1955. Before that, Morton had worked in many different types of jobs. He was a child star in the 1930s and got to travel the country. During World War II, he worked for the Army Signal Corps and was sworn to secrecy about his missions until 50 years after the war ended. He then went to Hollywood and ended up selling an idea for an early crime drama. It didn’t go quite the way he wanted, so he returned home to Tucson and started working for his father’s jewelry store. The business wasn’t very successful, but Morton did notice that many people would bring in trophies to get engraved because there wasn’t an awards store in town. So Morton and Sylvia decided to leave the jewelry business and start an awards store.

Howard would come to Tuller Trophy after school every day. He learned at an early age how to engrave items from his mom and dad.

“I grew up in this business,” he says. “The building itself is like a home to me.”

Howard worked at the store in high school, and after graduating college in 1974, he helped open and run a second location. His mom passed away in the 1980s, and he took over Tuller’s in 1990, but his dad would still come in to help and visit with customers.

“Mort was a very charismatic, social guy. He was a really unique human being,” Howard says. “I’m really proud to be his son.”

   
Morton Tuller

Morton passed away in 2013, but his and Sylvia’s mark on the community is still very apparent. A photo of the couple is part of the Broadway Tile Murals at the entryway to downtown Tucson.

Today, Howard says he is semiretired. But he still spends several hours at the store each day.

“I like being here, seeing the regulars,” he says. “I love the vibe of it.”

He credits much of the business’s success to his team, specifically the two managers, Todd and Tye Stout, who are brothers.

“They’re like family. They know the business so well, and they keep things running,” Howard says. “I have the highest regard for these guys.”

The Tuller Trophy team celebrated 70 years with a party on March 7 where scores of community members and industry professionals came out. They received a proclamation from the mayor of Tucson, and a senator presented them with a plaque for being a legacy business in the community.

Howard says he’s so proud of where Tuller Trophy is today, and he thinks his parents would be too.

“This place represents my life’s work,” he says. “This is what I’ve done with my life. I’ve honored my parents, and I’ve done OK. I am proud and pleased that it’s still going strong.”