Longtime Florida retailer Estelle Poitevient dies at 101

Her sons now run Haynes Brothers' Furniture

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, April 12, 2011

SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla. — Estelle Poitevient, the matriarch of a four-generation retailer here, has died. She was 101.

Poitevient, known affectionately as "Grandma Haynes," got into the furniture business in 1946 when she and her late husband, Hobart Haynes, bought retailer Riverside Furniture Co. When her husband died later that year, Poitevient took over the store, which became known as Welcome Travelers. She later remarried and worked in the business until retiring in 1985.

Now called Haynes Brothers' Furniture, the company has four stores and a warehouse in Volusia County, Fla., and is run by her sons, Doyle and Tom Haynes.

Poitevient is survived by her two sons, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church Building Fund of Daytona Beach, Fla.