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About Us

For four decades, Bo-Kay Florist has been a staple of Bay Springs. Tuesday morning, the Bay Springs Chamber of Commerce awarded the florist with its Business Spotlight plaque while celebrating the business’s longevity.

“I started the business on November 28, 1983,” owner Sandra Kay Pugh said. “My son was born on December 28th of the same year. I had him a month after I opened the shop. It was in a trailer between the Short Stop and the bank on the other side of town. There wasn’t a Ward’s there back then.”

Bo-Kay Florist offers many beautiful items and gifts, with a variety of items throughout the shop. Pugh, or simply “Kay,” as many in the community call her, has run the business throughout the years, surviving other florists who have come and gone around the area.

“We moved to our new location years later after Mr. Sam sold the land, which turned out to be Ward’s. I’ve watched other florists come and go, but I stuck in here with it,” said Pugh.

“When I was in high school, I would always go over to Bay Springs Florist to see what they were doing, but when I went to college, I lived next door to a lady who had a florist [shop]. So, after I would get through with my homework, I would go over there and bug her [laughs]. It just kind of grew, and she ended up saying, ‘If you’re going to come over here and bug me all the time, why don’t you start to work for me?’ So, I did,” said Pugh when discussing how she got into the florist business.

“I worked with her until 1983, and we moved back to Bay Springs,” added Pugh.

Pugh attended Whitworth College in Brookhaven, which is now considered a landmark since the school closed and became Mississippi School of the Arts. She is from Paulding, Mississippi, stating that she grew up right across the street from the historic courthouse.

“We’ve changed the building around, moved desks and walls, but we’ve enjoyed watching people grow up. The people of Bay Springs have been really, really good to us over the years,” smiled Pugh.