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If you manage to run a successful business for 17 years during bad economic times as well as good, then you must be doing it right. Judy Angell, owner of Ivy Arch, is definitely one of the ones doing it right!

“I have always had retail in my blood,” said Angell. ”My first job at age 16 was at Woolworth in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. I loved it and always had a job in that business during my high school and college years. I had a yearning to open my own business in a field I loved. My first entrepreneurial experience was the opening of Habersham Plantation Country Store in Hanes Mall. After a few years, I ‘retired’ from the mall and opened Ivy Arch.”

Angell opened Ivy Arch in November 1995 in the Whitaker Square shopping center. “I planned on providing fine and unique gifts, beautiful home decor and small furniture items, as well as some jewelry and accessories that were unusual and exclusive,” said Angell. “We also printed party and upscale wedding invitations. As customers’ tastes changed, Ivy Arch stayed ahead with new products and lines. But over the years, several things haven’t changed at all: continually introducing new and unique products, outstanding customer service and our free signature gift-wrap. I have strived to provide the most exciting  merchandise for our customers and their classy tastes. Currently, I would describe Ivy Arch as a very unique boutique. In a nutshell, that IS our store.” In 2007, Ivy Arch moved across the street to the Sherwood Plaza shopping center on  Robinhood Road. ”This gave the store a fresh look,” Ivy Arch:  A Unique Boutique By Susan Woodall said Angell.

Read more on page 62 in the Sept Issue of FW Magazine