b'SMALL BUSINESSGiving Purpose to an Old Service Station and vintage, colorful and cute, full of charm, appeal, and ofThe two plan to continue expanding both E41 and Belles in the By: Kathryn Murray course, flowers, Belles draws quite the crowd wherever she goesSouth Georgia region. E41 currently uses Grassroots Coffee out of and regularly sells out. Thomasville as a roaster, but they are in the process of establishing Tiftons first roastery in a nearby renovated building as well as I n small-town Tifton, Georgia, itsJustin and Belle have only been married for three years, butestablishing other coffee shop locations in South Georgia. not uncommon to find a crowdthats long enough for them to have had their first child, gathered outside an old gas-station- establish a local coffee shop, and for Justin to purchase a 65As for Belle, she has opened up a storefront as well as purchased turned-quirky-coffee-shop namedChevy and then convince his wife to convert it into a flowera separate truck, Dolly, who travels regionally in South Georgia. Espresso 41. The hometown coffeetruck. Betty the Chevy is her name, and Belle chalks up theBetty the Chevy stays put in front of E41 or travels only within roastery, owned by Justin and Belleidea for a flower truck up to her husbands vision. I wasnt verythe Tifton vicinity. Belle has also added seasonally themed flower gung-ho about it, but he knew it would work, she says.design workshops in the last year, which have been hugely Golden, has a local allure and fun,popular, often selling out within minutes of being advertised. eclectic vibe capped off with aAfter Belle became pregnant with their first child, they decided couple of vintage trucks on displayto make some lifestyle changes so she could stay home.When theyre not busy dreaming up new business ventures and out front. Opening the flower truck was one of those changes. I still hadinitiating culture in the local community, Justin and Belle love to staples in from my C-section when we opened, she laughs.take weekend trips with their son and spend time with nearby Espresso 41, or E41 for short, was inspired byFrom day one, I was putting flowers together in the back of thefamily. Justins time spent in Nashville, Tennessee.truck. Justin taught me how to make the bouquets and how to While touring with a friend-turned-musicianwrap them. there, he spent numerous hours in makeshift coffee shop offices. I just fell in love with the culture. It was a different style of coffee shop than what you normally see if you dont come to a big city, he says. I wanted to open something similar, but with what I like, my style,I love Tifton, and wanted to and my decor. bring some culture to Tifton. His love for his hometown of Tifton drove himHosting art events from local back there to open up the coffee shop. I love Tifton, he says, and wanted to bring someartists and hiring local people.culture to Tifton. Hosting art events fromthat was important to me.local artists and hiring local people.that was important to me.- JUSTIN GOLDENAs for choosing an old service station as his location of choice, Justin was motivated by his lifelong love of cars and the fact that his grandfather used to own a service station. The old service station here was right up my alley, he says while looking at walls coveredBelle readily acknowledges flower arrangements were not with classic car memorabilia in a style thatsomething she had ever expressed interest in until her husband makes you temporarily forget you are in Tifton,pushed her towards it. He encouraged me. It was a passion Georgia. of mine that I did not know I had. It just came naturally. The JENNA LINDSEY Chances are folks arent showing up just forcommunity support was there from day one, she says, and the coffee though. The additional appeal is thetheyve never looked back. ability to purchase unique floral arrangements from the back of Belles Flower Truck. SouthernFloral Appeal: Belle Golden, owner of Belles Flower Truck, provides unique floral arrangement from the back of vintage trucks.18 SG MAGAZINE | FALL 2020 BUSINESS + CULTURE 19'