Alice Brazelton-Pittman never thought that she would be operating her family’s business, which was started by her father.

Brazelton’s Floral is what she calls a “miracle on West Grand Boulevard” in the NW Goldberg neighborhood. During Black History Month, the Free Press spent time with the Black-owned business, which has been operating since 1941. Its original owner was Edgar Brazelton Jr., also known as “Mr. B The Flower Man.” Then two of his children, Edgar Brazelton III and Irene Brazelton, took over the business.

Brazelton-Pittman, 78, remembers the sweet aroma of flowers every time she came into the store as a child, and the scent of flowers is still present today.

She took over the family business in 2018, which she said shouldn't be open at all because the odds have been against her following the loss of her brother and sister.

“This store should not be open,” she said. “It really shouldn’t. It’s open every day by a miracle. It’s open every day by the grace of God. I don’t always know how I’m going to make payroll. I don’t always know how I’m going to pay my vendors. I just do it by faith.”

Customers can walk in or visit the shop’s website to purchase flowers with the option of delivery or pickup. Arrangements are created for a variety of occasions: sympathy, anniversaries, weddings, events and fundraisers. Customers can also purchase a designer’s choice bouquet.

The green and white building sits at 2686 W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit. Brazelton-Pittman knows that the exterior is in need of repairs, and although those repairs will come later, she is more focused on reviving the business.

A look back at its history

When Brazelton Jr. first started his business as a side hustle, he worked for the U.S. Post Office in 1935, and in his free time, sold flowers at just 25 cents a bundle, according to Free Press archives.

Brazelton Jr. — whose Brush Street store was originally called Acme Florist — was an activist in the community. He was involved in the Booker T. Washington Business Association, Michigan Minority Business Development Council, Cotillion Club and many others.

The family lived in Detroit’s lost Black Bottom neighborhood — which is now Interstate 375 and Lafayette Park — and also operated their business there. Brazelton-Pittman would work in the shop during the holidays.

“I had the opportunity once to go to the wholesale house with my father and saw the business side of him,” Brazelton-Pittman said. “And he was so good at math. He didn’t need a pen and paper to calculate. He didn’t need a calculator. He could calculate as fast as those other businessmen when it came to purchasing.”

She also remembers when her father secured a floral contract as a Black business owner with General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler.

The Brush Street store had three floral designers at the time and Brazelton Jr. mentored his three eldest children. Brazelton-Pittman said she didn’t have the gift of floral design, but she always loved the administrative part of running the business.

Brazelton Jr. relocated the business to West Grand Boulevard a year after the 1967 Detroit riot. The current building was originally a four-unit living space, which was converted into the flower shop.

More recently, things changed quickly for the Brazelton family business. Irene Brazelton, who was operating the store, died in fall 2017. And Edgar Brazelton III, who was also running the business with his sister, died in early 2018.

This left Brazelton-Pittman legally appointed over the business after 20 years of being away. She had to operate the business from what she knew as a little girl, remembering knowledge about staffing the shop, doing administrative work and knowing about the floral business overall. She also noted that things were completely different being in a new century.

“The store was left with debt that I had to pick up,” Brazelton-Pittman said. “It was left with back taxes. I had to take care of it. But this now becomes a venture of me walking by faith that ‘God if you want me to do this, then I need your help.’ “

She connected with Daniel Washington, the executive director and founder of NW Goldberg Cares, a nonprofit that provides assistance in the neighborhood, and Autumn Kyles, the founder of Proxie, a small business technical assistance firm. Washington grew up in the neighborhood and said his father always talked about the flower shop. The two nonprofits partnered to offer grants and technical assistance to small businesses through the NW Goldberg Cares Sustaining Detroit’s Legacy program in 2021.

“We were able to essentially give not only a cash infusion grant, but we were able to assist her with technical assistance related specifically to accounting, which essentially assisted her in not being in trouble with the IRS,” said Washington.

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“We were able to create support — with another small business technical assistance firm that focuses specifically on accounting — to get not only all of her taxes upfront, but then also get her onto the accounting system QuickBooks, so that she can manage it and she could have real visibility into her financials,” Kyles added.

Along the way, there have been Detroit-based businesses that have supported her, such as Jenkins Construction, which did minor repairs, Wow 1 Day Painting Detroit, which painted the exterior of the business, and Basic Wholesale Floral Distributors, which helped in multiple ways. Brazelton-Pittman also connected with the West Grand Boulevard Collaborative, a community block club. This allowed her to connect with surrounding businesses such as James H. Cole Funeral Home, Henry Ford Hospital, the Motown Museum and Boulevard Market.

Although her journey is just getting started, she knows that miracles will continue to happen for her business.

“I’m here because, No. 1, I believe this is what God wants me to do,” Brazelton-Pittman said. “It's part of a legacy to the family, the community and our city. My hope, desire and vision is that Brazelton’s will again become the nucleus of the community and our city. And be the miracle on West Grand Boulevard.”

To learn more about the business, go to Brazeltons.com.

Contact staff writer Chanel Stitt on Twitter: @ByChanelStitt.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Brazelton's Floral in Detroit thrives today after family losses