We’re in the basement of the flagship Heights location of Tipton & Hurst at 1801 N. Grant St. in Little Rock, and it’s like an international bazaar. There are boxes from Colombia and Ecuador, and they’re filled with fresh flowers. I’m being given a tour of the building by Howard Hurst, the president of Tipton & Hurst, one of Arkansas’ oldest family-owned businesses. “There’s a jewelry store in Camden that’s older than we are [Stinson’s Jewelers, founded in 1850], but that’s about it as far as retailers go,” Hurst says. “Our business started on Main Street in 1886.” Howard’s grandfather, Joe Hurst Sr., was born in England in 1859 and raised in Scotland. He came to this country at age 18 to work on railroads and wound up in Little Rock, where he entered into a partnership with flower-grower David Tipton. In a box on his desk, Howard Hurst has the original partnership documents. For years, the company had greenhouses at 14th and Park near Little Rock Central High School. Those greenhouses can be seen in the background of some of the photos shot during the 1957 Central High School desegregation crisis, which was the biggest news story in the world that fall. “The Tiptons were into growing orchids, which were used frequently by women as corsages,” Hurst says. “They would put them on ice and ship them out by rail. They had glass greenhouses.” Tipton & Hurst now has almost 30,000 square feet of warehouse space near Ninth and Thayer streets. Hurst says he has a dream of using open property adjacent to the warehouse for growing flowers, adding vibrant colors to the inner city. “We buy directly from growers all over the world,” Hurst says. “Those flowers you see from Colombia and Ecuador are generally flown to Miami and then trucked from there in refrigerated vehicles.” Buyer Freda Rice, who has been with Tipton & Hurst for 35 years, works out of the basement of the Heights location. The floral designers are upstairs. “Freda has worldwide contacts that she has developed through the years,” Hurst says. “She […]
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