'Retired but not gone': Beverly Rae's owner to work for new boutique opening soon

BRIGHTON — The owner of a longtime, second-generation women's fashion boutique is ready to retire from business ownership, but she'll still be a familiar face in downtown Brighton.

Debbie Carley owns Beverly Rae's, a boutique established in Livingston County in 1979 by her mother Beverly Rae Mohr. After operating locations in a few communities, the boutique landed at 203 W. Main St. in downtown Brighton, where its five-year lease is set to expire at the end of July.

On August 1, The Coral Sash, a women's fashion boutique with a location in South Lyon, will set up there, with Carley as an employee.

The Coral Sash owner Karen Backus said they'll continue to operate the South Lyon shop at 131 N. Lafayette.

"I'll work in the (Brighton) shop," Carley said. "Whatever (Backus) would like me to do, I'd like to do it at least a few days a week, because (in) retirement, I can't not be around people. I'm a people person."

Carley, 73, said it's the right time for her to retire from being an owner-operator. Backus helped her launch a marketing campaign to sell off Beverly Rae's inventory at a 50 percent discount through July. They're calling it a "retired but not gone" sale.

Stepping away from owning a boutique will allow Carley, she said, to do more traveling and spend more time with family in Michigan and Wisconsin, including her five grandchildren. She also said she wants to get involved in the community as a volunteer.

The boutique has occupied three different locations in downtown Brighton over the years, plus stores in Fowlerville, Hartland Township and Milford.

Carley said the first Brighton location was 140 W. Main St. — which is now occupied by El Arbol Taqueria. The boutique later expanded to about 4,000-square-feet of the block where it's currently located.

With the arrival of the Great Recession, Carley her husband, Tom, decided to move across the street to what had been a former Little Professor Bookstore at 306 W. Main St.

In 2018, Carley settled a lawsuit with landlord Patrick Tortora of MCPT 306 Main, LLC and agreed to relocate back across the street, even though she argued they had a binding lease that would've allowed the store to stay in place until 2020. Brighton Coffeehouse and Theater later moved into 306 W. Main St.

"This location ended up working out to be a really great move," Carley said. "It has a backdoor on the parking lot. This was heaven sent."

She says it's time for someone new, and younger, to take over the space.

"(Backus) is so flexible and she's so much fun. I've just gotten to know her, but I feel I've known her forever. She's a very generous, inspiring, knowledgeable, go-getter, and she's going to do wonders for Brighton," she said.

"Brighton has always been a draw because it's a community that has a lot to offer," Backus said. "It's always been a dream to own more than one location, and when I got a phone call about this space, it was kind of too hard to pass up."

The Coral Sash, she said, carries clothing and fashion items that appeal to a wide range of shoppers.

"The whole dream was always to own a store that multiple generations could shop at. Often times boutiques are pretty specific, but I wanted one that I could shop at with my daughter and my mother."

After she gets the keys to the Brighton storefront at the beginning of August, Backus expects it to take about a month to get set up.

"My goal is to open by Sept. 1," she said.

Backus said the Brighton and South Lyon shops will have some similarities and differences.

"There's going to be some new exclusives in the Brighton area. There'll be probably some new brands," she said. "It will be a very similar theme. It will be very homey, casual. The whole goal is when you walk in, you feel like you're at home."

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She's looking forward to having Carley on board.

"We're going to integrate our love from the community, our love for our customers, and our love for fashion and we'll make it a very fun and enjoyable experience when you walk through the front door — or back door for that matter," she said. "She's such a sweetheart, and I'm so excited to work together and have a fun future."

— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com. 

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: 'Retired but not gone': Beverly Rae's owner to work for new boutique opening soon