Soul of 78: Janie Wilson and Susie Akins
Words by Terrell Manasco and Justin Hunter | Images by Ryan McGill
Edith Ivey’s entrepreneurial spirit was a seed that has blossomed in Jasper through the lives of her daughters and grandchildren.
“The word that came to me this morning that best describes my mother was ‘visionary,’” reflects Janie Wilson, Edith’s daughter and co-owner of Johnny Brusco’s New York Style Pizza on 19th Street.
In 1962, Edith did something almost unheard of: she decided to open her own boutique in downtown Jasper in between two dime stores. Borrowing her daughter Janie’s middle name, Mrs. Ivey christened the new store Carol’s Boutique. Because the clothing industry was dominated by men and large department stores, Carol’s was counter-cultural, providing a space for women that was owned and operated by women.
Situated on bustling 19th Street, Carol’s later added a location at Parkland Shopping Center and at Jasper Mall.
Susie Akins, Mrs. Ivey’s daughter, remembers opening the mall store. “There was no concrete floor,” Susie says. “We just had gravel. We had to pour our own foundation.”
Susie studied fashion merchandising at Southern Institute in Birmingham before partnering with her mother and another sister, Margie Norris, at Carol’s. The business has since passed down to Susie and her daughter, Jenny Housley.
“Retail is all I’ve ever done,” Susie says.
A 1989 Walker High School graduate, Jenny earned her degree in psychology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) before joining Susie and her family in 1994. For a few years, she and her mom also owned Jenny and Me, a children’s store with locations in the mall and downtown.
Carol’s returned to its 19th Street roots earlier in 2021, moving to a building beside Ernest Crump Motor Company, only a few blocks from where it began 60 years ago.
The store specializes in weekend wear and casual apparel from size small to 3X. Customers range from teens to ladies in their nineties.
“We travel to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, New York, all the markets, etc.,” Jenny says. “It’s important for us to make everyone feel beautiful in their own skin, no matter their age or size.”
The store’s website, www.shopcarols.com, has made shopping even more convenient. Customers can order online and have items shipped anywhere in the United States. “We also offer free in- store pickup so local customers can shop the website as well,” Susie says.
Both Jenny and Susie say they received a warm welcome from all the downtown merchants and they are thrilled to be back. “We've come full circle,” Jenny says. “We absolutely love it downtown. We feel like we're home.”
For the Wilson family, Johnny Brusco’s is more than just a pizzeria; is the fulfillment of a matriarch’s dream. “Mom always said if we had a nice restaurant in downtown Jasper, then the people would come back. Now we have a lot of nice restaurants, and we are booming,” says Janie.
Johnny Brusco’s started out at a shopping center beside Walmart, but the magnetism of downtown Jasper charmed the restaurant to its current location in 2017. Ironically, the original location of Carol’s Boutique is in what is now Guild Mortgage, less than 100 feet from Johnny Brusco’s front door.
And whether her family is selling pizzas or helping a customer find the right outfit, Edith’s spirit lives proudly in the lives of these strong women she raised.
“Mother was a woman before her time,” reflects Janie. “She was a quiet, reserved, and fairly shy lady with a good mind for business,” Janie says. “Mother had all three of us girls working in the boutique after school. She instilled in us a hard work ethic and the importance of good customer service, and we still live by the lessons she taught us.” 78