family business

Mother-daughter team keeps boutique running

Uzma Quader started her retail business five years ago with a gift shop in Town and Country when her eldest daughter, Zara, was 13 years old. Zara immediately began helping her mother with the store.

Three years ago, they closed the gift store and opened Uzma Q, a clothing and accessories shop for women and tweens. Read more...

Family-run Schacht Groves puts personal touch in gift-fruit business

Vero Beach — Though Schacht Groves was founded 60 years ago, the gift-fruit shipping and retail store is the biggest reason why the business has survived.

Traveling salesman Henry H. Schacht had taken a liking to Vero Beach, so in 1950 he bought 50 acres of orange groves west of the town. Over the next 20 years, the farm grew to 400 acres and added other citrus varieties, but was strictly a commercial producer for packing houses until Schacht’s son, Henry F. Schacht, started a gift-fruit business as a hobby. Read more...

Mother-daughter team create successful gift shops

Mother and daughter Marcella Steinhauser and Mary Montgomery have found they make a pretty good team when it comes to making business decisions for their gift shop Steinhauser’s Hallmark, located at 109 N.W. Third in Abilene.

“As far as our buying relationship in store, we are still mother-daughter. Mary’s choices are not my choices, but it’s a good blend,” explained Marcella, noting their differences work positively to keep the store appealing to both the younger customers and retired people as well. Read more...

Women in Business: Erica Clark and Earline Clark

The mother-and-daughter team who runs a floral and gift shop on Forest Avenue know one sure way to keep family relations in harmony. Like good role players on a championship squad, each remains in her respective field of expertise.

Earline Clark, the mother and a retired educator, is the veteran floral designer and arranger. Her daughter, Erica Clark, handles the customer relations and business side of the enterprise that is located about two blocks south of Jackson Hos­pital. Read more...

Sister Team Launches Clip-On Purse

Sandy Christiano’s idea for a hands-free, clip-on purse was conceived by accident. About four years ago, while unloading her young daughter from a car seat, the heavy, shoulder-strapped pocketbook that she was wearing swung around and struck her daughter in the head.

Her vision for a fashionable, yet utilitarian, clip-on purse blossomed into a family business when Christiano and her three sisters, Kenya D’Augustino, Ladene Paulino, and Raylene D’Augustino, launched HipPurse as an online business out of a home office in Rocky Hill in October 2007. Read more...

Outdoor-gear store in Beaverdale has kept its footing as terrain changed

Lexi Wornson's pink Gore-Tex vest is too small to fit her anymore, but she keeps it to remind her of the family history and how their Beaverdale store, Back Country Outfitters, has been on the cutting edge of outdoor gear since she was a child.

Wornson, 28, received the vest when she was 3 or 4. It was a one-of-a-kind creation by an early pioneer of outdoor clothing for a fashion show in New York. At the time, Gore-Tex was new, and no one was making outdoor gear for women, let alone children. When the show was over, the manufacturer, who was a friend of her parents, presented the pink vest as a gift to little Lexi. Read more...

Woman takes family chutney recipe to the public

North Carolina — Five years ago, Margot Walser took her annual chutney canning operation to Raleigh to teach her daughter and two friends how to make the 50-year-old family recipe.

The laborious, two-day process of purchasing and cutting up ingredients, washing jars, cooking and bottling the seven-fruit chutney was becoming too much for the 70-something Walser to continue. So daughter Carolyn W. Johnson was the last hope to keep the family tradition alive. Read more...

Patterry has something for everyone

Starting a business from scratch is a large task, and entrepreneurship requires much courage and perseverance. A new business can face many obstacles and setbacks, which can be discouraging.

However, Pat and Terry Thompson are two entrepreneurs who show it can be done. They own Patterry — hence, the ode to their names — in downtown Wilmington, and their shop has seen great success since its inception.

After working in a large business setting for most of his career, Terry had ideas about opening his own business. Read more...

Olde Gingerbread House Gift Shoppe offers plenty of knicknacks and trinkets

Sherrill, NY - Opening a gift shop is something that Cory Marsh always wanted to do.

Finally, with the help of her family, she will have that chance as The Olde Gingerbread House Gift Shoppe has its grand opening Oct. 10.

The gift shop, which is located on Route 5 in Sherrill where the Gingerbread House Restaurant formerly operated, has been months in the making. Marsh's husband, Dan, has been busy making improvements to the building and working on shelves for the shop. Her daughter, Brittany, 17, has been helping her set up and will work with her when the shop opens its doors to the public. Read more...

Resident returns home, starts business

Jill French was just looking for a place to make a present for her grandson when she stumbled on something more - a business plan.

The former South Lyon resident was living in Florida at the time, and visited a combination coffee shop/pottery painting shop to make the gift. She immediately fell in love with the place and asked her son, Chad Ortwine, "Wouldn't something like this be awesome in South Lyon?" He responded with a yes, and French immediately got on the phone to see if she could make it happen.

She eventually connected with Lee Ann Tolinski, owner of the Gallery Cafe, and pitched her idea. Tolinski, who is best friends with French's sister Lynn, thought it would be a great idea, and when French moved back to Michigan in June, planning began. Read more...