Matthew Burnette, Staff Writer

First and foremost, Shirley Campbell gives God the credit for the longevity that Bruce’s Florist has experienced in Manchester.

While reflecting on her time at the shop as it prepares to close its doors after nearly 80 years, she says that the customers had a lot to do with their success as well.

“We’ve been blessed with our good customers, and we’ve appreciated them all these years,” said Campbell. “Some of them have been with me since we came up here, and some of them have gone on to be with the Lord.”

Bruce’s Florist first opened in Manchester in 1948 after the store’s original owner Bernice Bruce Pugh moved to Tennessee with her first husband Milo Bruce.

After Milo passed away, Shirley, her husband Joe, Bernice’s brother, and their family moved to Manchester to help her out before purchasing the store in 1966.

The flower shop had a few different locations before settling into the building it now occupies on the corner of East Fort and North Woodland Street that was built in 1986.

Over the years, various family members have worked at the shop. Alethia Bryant, the Campbells’ daughter who was four when the family moved to Tennessee, has worked at the shop for 45 years and her sister Cindy Still has worked there on and off as well.

“This is all I’ve ever known,” said Bryant. “I’ve enjoyed working for my parents. Sure, there’s ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“We’re going to really miss our customers,” she added. “We’ve made a lot of friends and met a lot of good people. We just want to make sure everybody knows how much we appreciate them and love them. There are some customers that we remember as kids being here.”

In addition to those that come to work at the shop that are related by blood, the family has also picked up some honorary members along the way.

Haley Shelton, Bryant’s “work daughter,” has been at the shop for four years, and Campbell considers Nancy Scott, who has worked at Bruce’s Florist for 25 years and commutes from Shelbyville every day, her adopted daughter. When asked what she hopes people remember about the store, Scott’s answer was short but meaningful.

“The love we felt for the people.”

Though Campbell says that the decision was a hard one for her to make, she was eventually able to make peace with it and expects the shop to clear out the rest of its inventory soon.

Ultimately, at 82 years old but still able to drive the three miles from her house to the shop and back, she felt it was time to rest.

“It’s been a blessing, but I just thought it was time for me to take it easy.”