Harp’s Lingerie store in Birmingham honoring late matriarch at 65th anniversary
August 9, 2012 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
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The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON
Kim Hickson with a photo of her late grandmother, Elizabeth Harp, at Harp’s Lingerie in Birmingham. Harp’s is celebrating it’s 65th anniversary.
Elizabeth “Betty” Harp had hoped to live long enough to celebrate her store’s 65th anniversary Saturday, Aug. 11.
But as much as she wanted it, the woman known as the “queen of lingerie” died in 2010, just days short of her 94th birthday, after operating Harp’s Lingerie for 63 years.
“She really wanted to be here for this event, said Lynn Barazsu, spokeswoman for the store at 265 Old Woodward Ave., near the Birmingham 8 Theater.
“The nice thing is she worked right up to her last day. She loved hot dogs and she loved cake and that’s what we are giving our customers at the celebration” that will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Barazsu said.
“Every person who was working here the day she died is still here,” she noted. Her granddaughter Kim Hickson, 50, and great grandaughter Cali Costello, 16, are working there.
Harp and her husband, Elouis Harp, who met when they were both top salespeople at L.G. Haig Detroit, opened their first Harp’s store in 1947 on Chene Street in Detroit with $500 in borrowed cash.
Throughout the years, the couple, who had five children, owned stores in Hamtramck, Ferndale, Warren and, finally, Birmingham. After her husband’s retirement in 1985 and death in 2002, Betty Harp continued to fit generations of mothers, daughters and granddaughters, six days a week, according to Tribute.com.
The celebration, “is just a thank-you to all the women of Michigan that have supported Mrs. H and the store, and without a doubt honoring her,” said Barazsu, who added, “her presence is in the store every day.”
Revealed in her obituary was Harp’s secret to life: “Eat very little, use Vaseline or olive oil as a face cream — work like hell, and don’t take crap from anyone.”
For more information about the store or anniversary celebration, email info@harps-lingerie.com or call 248-642-2555.
