Blessed Event Shop

Clothier
1946-c.1950

118-122 North Sumter Street
Sumter, SC

FAMILIES: Ness; Housen

In 1946, Austrian immigrant Esther Berger Ness (1899-1976) and her daughter, Shirley Ness Housen (1921-1980), opened infant, children, and women’s clothing store Blessed Event Shop. The shop was initially located in Esther’s home at 2 Swan Lake Drive until renovations were completed to its permanent quarters at 122 North Sumter Street. Blessed Event Shop remained in operation through at least 1950.

Main Image: Blessed Event Shop advertisement. Reprinted from The Item, September 19, 1946.

The Jewish Merchant Project is supported by the generosity of the Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation and the Stanley B. Farbstein Endowment at the Coastal Community Foundation.

JHSSC Office
Sylvia Vlosky Yaschik Jewish Studies Center
96 Wentworth Street
Charleston, SC 29424
Phone: 843 953 3918