HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Not a lot has changed at Burke’s Upholstery since it opened in 1953. The team still specializes in custom-built furniture and reupholstery. You can also run into Billie Smith.<\/p>\n
Billie told us she first joined the shop in 1953 to help her brother, the owner, Johnny.<\/p>\n
“I did all the outside sales, carried the books and everything,” Billie remembers. “I always had a place here because of my brother’s business. I would come in and out until I finally decided that I was going to stay here all the time.”<\/p>\n
A third generation is now running Burke’s Upholstery, Victoria, and Charles Long. They say Billie is the heart of the business.<\/p>\n
“Never a dull moment,” Victoria shared. “She keeps everyone smiling, and customers love to come in and see her all the time.”<\/p>\n
“Billie is a spitfire. She outworks all of us,” Charles said. “Anytime I start thinking that I just don’t feel like doing it today, I think about Billie, because it doesn’t matter if she’s mad or she’s sad, she pulls herself by her bootstraps and gets it done.”<\/p>\n
In the video above, see her family come together to celebrate her 94th birthday, and hear why Billie is not ready to retire.<\/p>\n