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In the early days, she ran the store during the day and painted old furniture late into the night. Hard work was not new to Jennifer. Raised on St. Simons Island as the youngest of five children, she started working in a shop on the island when she was only thirteen years old. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a background in marketing and merchandising, she landed a job at Christian Dior in New York City. She opened the flagship store, and soon after was on her way to Paris as a buyer for Dior’s haute couture collection. Eventually, she returned to Atlanta and continued her career in retail management, all the while nursing her dream of having her own shop. As a little girl Jennifer spent long summer days on the beaches of St. Simons Island where she developed a fondness for the aquatic creatures all around her. One Fish, Two Fish recalled her childhood and was also a playfully catchy name easily remembered by her customers. She is still amused when she answers her business phone and hears, not for the first time, “What is the catch of the day?” Although Jennifer initially opened her shop in midtown, she soon discovered that her customers were downtown. So a few months later, she moved to 407 Whitaker Street (currently occupied by Circa Lighting) and was able to hire her first employee. In 2002, she relocated to her current space and purchased the block with Circa’s owner as her business partner.
As the store flourished so did Jennifer’s family. She is proud to have raised two children in an environment that has gone far in developing their social skills. Longtime customers inquire about the children who are now old enough to be at Savannah Country Day School. “The UPS guy knew my motto of you wake them up, you put them back down,” Jennifer remembers. “We worked around them. I knew I had to be a working mom…creatively, financially and intellectually. I am glad the children had the experience of growing up in my store. I am happy the playpen and baby bjorn are now things of the past, but I think fondly of those times and with not a little bit of wonderment that we survived.” Jennifer embraces her life as a business woman, and asks, “How can you have a bad day when you surround yourself with incredible people and beautiful things?” |
Jennifer Beaufait Grayson turned the key which would lead to the fulfillment of her lifelong dream when in 1998 she opened the doors to One Fish, Two Fish. Located in an upscale residential section of historic Savannah, One Fish, Two Fish is an anchor store for the Downtown Design District. It stands on the corner of Jones and Whitaker Streets in an old dairy building painted French gray with black awnings and interesting lettering above the corner entrance. On either side of the French doors are black iron urns reminiscent of old Savannah overflowing with creative plantings, typically pink hydrangeas in February and mustard greens and pansies in the fall. The creative artistry on the outside draws the visitor, tourist, or customer inside.