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Rather Than Retire . . . A Caring Lady Who Chose To Hire!
She is one of nine children, three girls and six boys. She was raised in Cleveland County in Casar, N. C. Her folks, Zeb and Viola, were farmers. She will tell you: “We came up hard”. She never used the word poor. She remembers toiling in the fields and picking cotton. Yes, cotton was king back then and you picked cotton as soon as the sun would rise until it got dark. Today, she will proudly tell you that her dad, Zeb, always said: “The best thing you could give a child was the gift of work.” She has always worked! She recalls riding the combine on the farm. She will also tell you that: “we didn’t hardly ever have candy.” She did mention that her grandmother would reach on top of the old stove and give her, her sisters and brothers a baked sweet potato. “To us that was our candy, that was our treat!”
Who is this lady? Her name was Joyce Chapman. She got married young and had two children. A boy and girl. She now has 11 grandchildren, including two sets of twins. She is married to Floyd Jones. In case I failed to mention, her nickname is Joy! She loves to sew and please people. She’ll also do anything she can to help family, friends and people. She is the owner of Joy’s Bridal in Forest City.
Joy is beyond retirement age. She has had Joy’s Bridal in Forest City on Main Street for 18 years. She told her husband that she had a decision to make. She said: “Either I’m going crazy, going to close down the business and retire, or I’m going to go bigger!” Keep in mind that this is the lady who worked for 21 and a half years sewing at Tanners in their custom made clothes line - Don Caster. She also took care of her Dad and Brother who died within a month of each other. Then she took care of her mother at night. She also has a friend, now 92 years old, who had no children and when her husband died, she added two rooms and a bathroom and told her to move on in. Today, she still gets up at 5 a.m., makes biscuits from scratch and cooks the entire days meals for her friend and husband, who is now sick. She somehow even finds time to have a garden.
Joy finally told her husband: “I’m worried not only about my present staff not having any work, but about the people in our county who are out of work and are hungry. So, Joy decided to “go bigger”. She talked to Webb Hunt and decided to move to the mall on Route 74. After extensive remodeling, carpeting and painting. Joy opened her new store this past November. It is over six times bigger than she had before. Now she will be quick to tell you that: “I’m happy with my decision and I like keeping money in Rutherford County.” This is the lady who never dreamed she’d own a bridal shop. Now she showcases over 8,000 pieces. She has clientele from Virginia, New York, Charlotte, and Tennessee. When I spoke with her, she said she needed to hire some more people. That will bring her up to 10. Also, in the back on the right, she introduced me to Dana Vess. Dana will be the in house florist at Joy’s Bridal. She still loves to sew and may start a sewing club at her business.
It’s all happening, because a farmer’s daughter decided to hire rather than retire!
