From Our Family to Yours: The Morris Family Businesses

Story by Cindy Reid
Photography by Haley Emory

DeeDee Morris is the owner and artisan of Ellen Claire Soapery, and right next door is husband Bobby’s business, Home Town Auto Care. As entrepreneurs, their products and services may be very different, but one thing they have in common is a profound commitment to family—theirs and yours.

“We are small family-run businesses, so it really is ‘our family to your family,’” says DeeDee.

Bobby and DeeDee are both Georgia natives—Bobby was born and raised in Effingham County, while DeeDee was born in Augusta and has called Effingham County home since the age of 16 when her family moved next door to Bobby’s family. Both bring a wealth of experience and expertise to their respective companies.

Bobby is a Master Certified Automotive Technician and worked in the automotive industry from Hilton Head to Savannah before opening Home Town Auto Care in 2000.

DeeDee is an RN and her nursing career included teaching (CNA, PCT and CPR) as well as geriatric, cardiopulmonary and pediatric nursing. She was a school nurse for 19 years at Sand Hill Elementary School in Effingham County before retiring after 30 years in nursing to open Ellen Claire Soapery.

Ellen Claire Soapery

DeeDee knows how essential good skin care is to overall health and wellness.

“What we put on our bodies can affect our health,” she says. “So I created a line of skin and body care products that are not only good for your skin, but you can feel good about using. Our family creates hand crafted soap, bath, body and skin care products with luxurious oils, butters, and additives such as goats milk, kaolin clays, silks, phthalate free fragrance and essential oils.”

They give their customers individual attention and create many custom orders because “Natural skin care is getting a lot more attention,” says DeeDee. “My number one priority is creating naturally fabulous products that smell good, are fun to use and great for your skin!”

Home Town Auto Care

Bobby has been working on cars since he could hold a wrench and most of his technicians have decades of experience as well.

“With more than 30 years of experience in automotive diagnostics and repair, we can take care of all of your family’s automotive needs,” he says. “It is this type of experience and knowledge that allows us to provide service and diagnostics you can count on.”

Home Town AutoCare has two locations—Bloomingdale and Pooler—and performs services on both foreign and domestic cars.

Having served eight years in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, Bobby is proud to offer military discounts, as well as discounts to police, fire, and other public service members, as does DeeDee.

Mo’ Southern Collection

The couple also is proud to offer another brand—the Mo’ Southern Collection—which includes a proprietary blend of Southern roasted small batch coffee, hand poured candles and wax melts, casual apparel, and fine chocolate.

The line also has handmade natural body care products formulated especially for men, such as beard oil, beard balm, shave soap, and handmade soaps in masculine fragrances. DeeDee says the men’s care products are a great fit in the Mo’ Southern Collection and have been very popular.

Stellar Customer Service

The Georgia Business Journal recently had a statewide “Best of Georgia” competition and Ellen Claire Soapery won the Best of Georgia Skin Care Specialist category.

“It was an absolute honor! As a nurse, skin care is my passion, and we were thrilled to be voted ‘Best in Georgia,’” says DeeDee. She adds that they were nominated based on their products and superior customer service business practices.

In 2020, Bobby was nominated for the Ratchet & Wrench All-Star Awards and he says the key to great customer service and repeat customers is simple.

“It’s just being up front and honest,” he says. “Tell the customer what’s going on. If it’s going to take longer than they expected, let them know. If there’s more work that needs to be done, let them know. The customer deserves to have all of the available information. They just want to know that they have someone they can trust with their automotive needs”

Bobby and DeeDee take the responsibility for excellent customer service and product value very seriously and treat every customer as if they were their own family.

A Family Affair

Before opening her soapery, DeeDee and Bobby worked in separate locations. Now that they are located in the same building, she says, “It’s really fun seeing my husband at work every day. We’ve never really had the opportunity to work side by side until now and we love it!” They both employ family members in their respective businesses and wouldn’t have it any other way.

At Home Town Auto Care, Bobby’s brother Jimmy Morris manages the Pooler location, and his aunt Kathy Harvey manages the accounts and office.

The couple’s daughter Katie Morris works in Ellen Claire Soapery creating many of their products while attending college for nursing. Their niece Abby Morris is in charge of web design, apparel design and special events, and niece Amanda Lavin—also studying nursing—works in the store and is their field representative.

Both businesses occasionally have the next generation of family babies in the shop. Abby has her niece with her sometimes and in the early years of Home Town Auto Care, Kathy frequently had her granddaughter in the office in her playpen. It truly is a family affair with the Morris family.

DeeDee says, “The girls get my vision and what is important to me is also important to them. They have our work ethic, especially as it pertains to customer service and superior products. They’ve learned how to make products by hand, formulate. They’ve learned about marketing and advertising, event planning and customer service. Running a small business is valuable experience and they are learning useful tools that will help them professionally regardless of what they decide to do in life.”

As far as supervising family members, DeeDee says “While working with family, it’s important to set a foundation of expectations.”

Bobby jokes “And they’re family so you can’t fire anyone!”

“It can be hard to leave work at work,” adds DeeDee. “Being family can make communication easier or harder. At the end of the day, we love each other and give each other more grace and forgiveness. It’s also important to recognize each person’s interests and talents and give them work to do that best compliments their skills and interests.”

Family Fun

For years, the Morris family spent every Friday at Oglethorpe Speedway.

“Racing and cars are in our blood,” says Bobby. “My grandfather, my father, my brothers, cousins, nephews, me—we all love dirt car racing.”

Bobby has been racing cars since he was 14 and has won numerous awards, races, and Championships. After the closing of Oglethorpe Speedway this year, the family decided to go in a new direction and take up Vintage Auto Racing.

“Vintage auto racing is really more about family fun and traveling together so we are all very excited about this new venture,” says DeeDee.

She says they also liked exploring the area with monthly family outings to local places like Tybee Island and downtown Savannah. “Ghost tours were a big favorite; we loved the Graveyard Hearse tour. We also enjoy visiting Jekyll Island and St. Augustine, Florida. I love to visit local and play tourist for the day!”

Their son Scotty is a Software Engineer at Boeing in Jacksonville, Florida, and will be getting married in St. Augustine in June 2022, which will be a big family event as it is also the weekend of Bobby and DeeDee’s 35th wedding anniversary.

New projects for 2022

Home Town Auto Care has added four new bays and an alignment machine in order to offer more services and fleet work.

Ellen Claire Soapery also will be expanding their store as well as their product line. It will include their “Mommy & Me line for Moms and babies, using their own formulas. The baby products will be fragrance free or a very light fragrance such as lavender. The Mommy products will include body butter for stretch marks, breast cream for breast feeding moms, diaper cream for babies and their baby soaps. They even create custom breast milk soap for babies with their mommy’s milk.

The boutique is also adding more spa products such as luxury bathrobes, fuzzy slippers, and tub trays. The Mo’ Southern Collection will continue to grow and expand its presence in shops throughout the area.

The Morris family’s next project is continuing to develop 40 acres they own in Guyton where they plan to create a family neighborhood. They have been clearing and working on the property, and this year they are going to start building a house there. Bobby and his brother Doug and nephew Logan have been doing much of the land clearing and development themselves. They will construct a new race shop, pond, and party barn.

As DeeDee says: “Bobby can make, build, or do anything. He enjoys a challenge and is very handy.”

The Morris family is dedicated to each other, to their customers and to their community.

“We love living and working in Effingham County,” says DeeDee, “and we love being a family business!”