Tipton & Hurst

Started in 1886 in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Tipton & Hurst is the oldest and largest floral and gift business in Arkansas. It is considered to be the second-oldest continuing specialty retail business in the state, predated only by Stinson’s Jewelry in Camden (Ouachita County), which opened in 1847. Tipton & Hurst is a full-scale, specialty retailer, with in-store and online floral and décor design, plants, gifts, tableware, and a wedding registry.

With a hand-written partnership agreement, Joseph B. Hurst Sr. and David W. Tipton started a floral business in 1886. Joseph Hurst Sr. was born in 1859 in England and reared in Scotland. He immigrated to the United States at age eighteen and eventually settled in Little Rock. David Tipton was the son of William Tipton, who had established Tipton Nurseries in Little Rock after moving there in 1879. The family had been in the nursery business in Ohio. Hurst and Tipton operated a retail florist shop on Main Street, and the greenhouses for growing the flowers were at 14^th and Park Streets, across from the future home of Little Rock Central High School. Hurst managed sales, while Tipton managed the growing operation.

In addition to the retail business, the firm also sold flowers and plants wholesale. The largest competitor for this business was J. W. Vestal & Son in North Little Rock (Pulaski County), which had large greenhouse nurseries and sold plants and seeds nationwide by mail order from 1880 to 1977.

Joe Hurst Sr. died in 1932, and his widow, Carolene Morrison Hurst, managed the firm until Joseph Hurst Jr. joined as president in 1945, after World War II military service. The Tipton family sold its interests in the company in the 1950s, making the Hurst family the sole owner.

Joe Hurst Jr.’s son, Howard Hurst, had worked in the family business in his youth and joined the firm after graduating from the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) in 1980. His father retired in 1983 and assumed an advisory role. Howard was then named president at age twenty-six. His wife, Stacy, is vice president of the firm, and their daughter, Josie, has joined as a brand strategy manager.

The flower-growing operation had been relocated from Park Street to southern Little Rock, and it was sold in the 1960s. The firm began buying flowers from sources in other states and importing flowers from overseas, with approximately half of the product coming from Colombia and Ecuador, and some from the Netherlands. The firm’s volume ranks it in the top fifty of retail florists in the United States and Canada.

Sales expanded beyond the original Little Rock market, and by 2025, there were Tipton & Hurst stores in North Little Rock, Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Conway (Faulkner County), and Rogers (Benton County). Many of the approximately 100 Tipton & Hurst staff members are long-time employees.

In addition to cut flowers, the firm sells plants and gifts. Flowers represent approximately half of the sales volume, while gifts, crystal, China, and items such as silk flowers are the balance. Tipton & Hurst maintains an online registry for baby and wedding gifts and is also known for decorating homes and public places for holidays, weddings, and parties. It has provided the Christmas tree for the Capital Hotel lobby and decorated it with thousands of lights and ornaments. It also donates decorations for charitable events.

Tipton & Hurst was awarded the Torch Award for business ethics by the Better Business Bureau. The firm has also sponsored flower arranging instruction and competitions for youth. In a 2024 poll by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Tipton & Hurst ranked first among florists, as well as first for gifts and home décor.

For additional information:
Nelson, Rex. “Selling Flowers since 1886.” Arkansas-Democrat, September 25, 2019, p. 9B. Online at https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/sep/25/selling-flowers-since-1886-20190925/ (accessed July 29, 2025).

Tipton & Hurst. https://www.tiptonhurst.com/ (accessed July 29, 2025).

W. W. Satterfield
Little Rock, Arkansas