Our First Blog Post
Welcome to our first blog post! We thought we would dedicate this first post about our evolution and journey of The Gatorbug. We plan to post regularly, so thank you for reading and we hope you continue to do so!
The Gatorbug started when Patricia Bishop and her daughter Dawn Carter created their own business that catered to home interior goods, handbags, jewelry and accessories. Their business started out of Dawn’s home and they spent their days sewing, crafting and building The Gatorbug. It was not long before, Patricia granddaughter and Dawn’s 13 year old niece, Sydney, took an interest in The Gatorbug. She quickly became their “errand runner” and worked Pop-Up and Junior League shows for them. Sydney threw herself into learning anything and everything she could about their business.
Dawn’s daughter, Catherine, was 7 years old at the time when she started the business. Catherine had just started doing competitive cheerleading and Dawn was traveling constantly to competitions with her. It became very difficult for Dawn to juggle both the demands of family and business and she closed the shop when her daughter was 12.
Sydney, never lost her passion for fashion and there was a burning desire in her to continue the legacy of The Gatorbug. Sydney opened The Gatorbug again in 2014, the same year her little boy, Sterling was born! By 2017 Sydney realized she needed to spend the last precious years with her little boy before he started Kindergarten.
The stars aligned in January 2019. Catherine, had recently graduated from NC State University with a degree in Textiles. Catherine had the unique ability to spot a vintage Chanel by the age of 8 and fashion was in the blood of the littlest Gatorbug! After working at boutiques in Beverly Hills and Atlanta, Catherine decided to move back home and open a women's contemporary boutique of her own! Catherine struggled with finding the perfect name for her new boutique and it was only when our matriarch Patricia, passed away in January of 2019, it was clear what she had to name her new boutique.
The Gatorbug reopened on July 2nd 2019, in Atlantic Beach, NC. The store quickly took off and it was not long before Dawn and Sydney found themselves running The Gatorbug with Catherine. Today, Catherine, our CEO, runs the day to day operations of the store and handles the buying. Sydney, is our COO and handles our website, marketing and media. Dawn, has been able to find a place with The Gatorbug again as our CCO. She is wickedly creative and brings that perfect piazza The Gatorbug prides ourselves on.
Our mission is to bring women of all ages fashion and unique finds at a wide range of prices. If you are ever in the area (or even on social media) please reach out to us, Catherine loves styling customers and is in the store almost everyday!
With Love,
Catherine-Wells Carter
Sydney Jarrell
Dawn Carter
