58-year-old Beaufort flower shop to reopen in August
For Tierney Stone, it was time to go home.
The Holly Hill native had been living in London for 19 years, a single mom of two in a high-powered finance career.
After working on a luxury skincare line and getting it on the shelves at Harrods, Stone took her two sons on a summer trip to South Carolina in 2013.
Vacationing on Fripp Island with friends and family brought back happy memories of growing up in the South. Returning to London was a little sad for Stone and her sons -- ultimately, the city's "cold, gray" weather and commuter culture weren't working for the trio anymore.
Stone and her sons moved to Lady's Island last June, and spent the summer renovating an old house Stone had found on a trip the previous Thanksgiving.
Soon after, a "for sale" sign tacked in the window of a flower shop at 1202 Boundary St. attracted her attention.
"Flowers got me through banking," she said. "I did arrangements for birthdays, Christmases, as a hobby. It was a joy for me."
So she called the store, not yet realizing her story would be the next chapter in the shop's nearly 60-year history.
Jenny Green, who is now 89, opened Bitty's Flower Shop on Bay Street in 1957, according to her daughter and former manager of Bitty's, Loretta "Bitty" Brant.
"My mother was one of the first female entrepreneurs (here)," Brant said.
Bitty's moved three times on Bay Street before moving to its permanent address on Boundary Street in 1988.
The store's name can be credited to Brant herself.
"When I was a toddler, my father referred to me as his 'little bitty girl,'" she explained. When people asked the young Brant what her name was, "'Bitty' was what came out."
And Brant had a request: Could her mother's new business be named after her?
Her parents agreed it was a "good, catchy name," and it stuck. Soon, customers were calling Green "Bitty," so her mother became "Bitty Sr." and Brant herself was "Bitty Jr."
Brant recalled her early years in the shop, doing her homework and learning the trade from watching her mother.
"As a child of a business owner, I grew up there," she said. "My mother taught me how to make change from the cash register."
In 1982, when Brant's father became ill, she came home to Beaufort to assist Green in running the business. Initially, she had only planned to stay for five years, but ended up becoming manager while her mother retained ownership, business roles the two continued until June 30.
Brant and Green knew they wanted to retire, but deciding what to do with the business was tough.
"We talked about selling out the business, but my mother had worked so hard to build loyal patrons," Brant said. "My concern was if we sold it, the integrity of my mother's hard work might be taken down."
They thought maybe it was time to close Bitty's Flower Shop for good and instead sell the building.
But then they met Stone.
"You have an epiphany," Brant said, describing the likemindedness between herself, Stone and her mother. "You just know. I didn't feel comfortable with many people (interested in buying the business) ... (but) there was this kindred feeling and she, too, is a South Carolina girl."
What goes into making a business last almost 60 years, Brant said, is quality customer service.
"We treated our customers like family," she said. "If someone came in for a funeral, even if we didn't know them, we'd feel for them. We'd go out to the car if they were handicapped."
Her voice broke when she reflected on the hard work and time Green put into the shop.
"My mother gave so much," she said. "She worked relentlessly. She would come in on a Sunday, work all morning, then deliver the flowers herself."
One Christmas Eve, a customer called around 8 or 8:30 p.m. to put flowers on a grave. Her mother put together the arrangement, then took a flashlight to the graveyard to look for and place flowers on the grave.
Stone saw, and appreciated, that dedication in Green and Brant.
"It was run with a lot of hard work and love," she said. "Flowers are a really personal thing. Bitty's wouldn't still be here if (the people running it) didn't care about it."
Stone has owned the building since June 30, and Bitty's Flower Shop is undergoing "heavy cosmetic cleanup." She hopes to have a soft reopening by the third week of August.
She added she intends to keep the "vintage, Bitty style" of floral arrangements, but has a few new ideas as well, such as a flower market-style section in which customers can create personalized bouquets for their homes.
Brant feels confident that Stone will retain the decades-old vision of Bitty's Flower Shop while also adding touches to keep the business moving into the next generation.
"She will take Bitty's to the next level," Brant said. "(My mother and I) are old school; Tierney is new school."
The legacy of Bitty's Flower Shop will carry on. For Stone and others, the vintage sign has always served as a landmark on the drive into downtown.
"You see it," Stone said, "and you know you're almost home."
Details: 843-524-4547
Follow reporter Ashley Fahey at twitter.com/IPBG_Ashley.
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This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 5:14 PM with the headline "58-year-old Beaufort flower shop to reopen in August."