Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2022

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • Issues
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • Issues Archive
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2022

Home News Regions Roanoke/New River Valley Store’s customer service rewarded with enduring loyalty

Store’s customer service rewarded with enduring loyalty

Published October 27, 2017 by Tim Thornton

Sheila Copenhaver (left); her daughter

When Sheila Copenhaver was 13, she got off a bus at the end of every school day to work at her mother’s store in Rocky Mount, J&J Fashions.

“My first job was to fold jeans,” she says. “I would fold Wrangler $3.99 jeans. Then I got promoted to making bows. I just remember, as a 13-year-old, that all I wanted to do was be in a women’s clothing store.”

That ambition has worked out well. J&J Fashions today is three times the size it was when Copenhaver’s mother, Jewell Hunt, started the business with her sister, Juanita, in February 1968.

Copenhaver took over the business from her mother a few years ago. Hunt’s sister had developed health problems and left six months after the store opened.

Three years ago, Copenhaver opened a J&J Fashions store in Roanoke. It doubled its floor space in October. Copenhaver’s daughter, Victoria Tripp, now is a manager in the Roanoke store.

J&J recently held a celebration at the Rocky Mount store as it began its 50th year of business. In October, the store was nominated for the Roanoke Regional Chamber’s legacy award, an honor reserved for businesses that have survived for at least a half-century. (The winner was Wood’s Service Center.)

The store has changed over the years, but it has kept its focus on customers’ needs. At first, J&J carried “a little bit of everything,” Copenhaver says, but customers led the store to stock more upscale clothing and accessories. More of the store’s customers work outside the home now, so J&J hosts invitation-only events after 5 p.m.

“What has kept us in business is our personal service and carrying quality merchandise and caring about the customer,” Copenhaver says. “We have ladies who will call and say, ‘I want so-and-so employee. Could they help me at two o’clock on Saturday? I need an outfit for a cruise.’ And we have it picked out and ready for them.”

That type of service has built customer loyalty. “We have been very blessed to have a customer base that has followed us from day one,” Copenhaver says. “They have followed us, and their children have followed us, and it is just something to see how we have been blessed in our field.”

Related Stories

Pulaski County is ready to court international companies

Despite setbacks, Mountain Valley Pipeline inches forward

Ya Xiao is a third-year computer science Ph.D. candidate studying cybersecurity at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on deep learning solutions for software security. Photo by Peter Means, Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech aims to fill cybersecurity jobs gaps

Trending

William & Mary names new business school dean

Carsales.com to fully acquire Trader Interactive

UNOS CEO announces departure

Sponsored Stories

What can Supply Chain Consultants do for me?

The Lowdown on Downloads for Your Online Experience

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Creating An Urban Destination in Chesapeake

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

William & Mary names new business school dean

Carsales.com to fully acquire Trader Interactive

UNOS CEO announces departure

Sponsored Stories

What can Supply Chain Consultants do for me?

The Lowdown on Downloads for Your Online Experience

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Creating An Urban Destination in Chesapeake

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2022 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk