95-year-old shop owner has more followers than her Midlands town has residents

BATESBURG-LEESVILLE, S.C. – Mae Buzhardt doesn’t have a phone or an email address, and has kept the inside of her clothing store, Mae’s, nearly the same since the 1960s.

And yet, her more than 7,000 Facebook followers outnumber Batesburg-Leesville’s entire population, according to 2024 census data.

“We have people from all over the USA,” Buzhardt said. “People are just coming and saying, I have gotten up and driven here to see who Mae is.”

Buzhardt’s short videos on her store Facebook page have attracted attention from across the Internet, commenters pouring in to express how much they love her personality or wit. Mae’s page can be found under the name Mae’s of Batesburg-Leesville - Distinctive Feminine Apparel.

In each video, Buzhardt selects an item or two of Mae’s collection to showcase her takes on how one could style or wear each piece. She also emphasizes the importance of trying clothes on in-person, rather than shopping online.

Up until recently, Mae’s has operated almost solely on word-of-mouth for business, selling women’s formal and casual wear locally for decades.

But in the age of social media, Buzhardt is switching it up. She’s been honored before, notably by a resolution adopted by the South Carolina Statehouse in 2016, but she says the new crowds in the store have been “amazing.”

“There’s always room for improvement,” she said. “Part of it was they were so surprised to see me, because they never had. Another thing is I think it was needed, because today’s world they’re living with the hand holding the phone.”

Buzhardt has always prized authenticity, she told reporters when she opened her doors in 1963 her philosophy in one word: honesty. Those same values carry through to her social media content, which allows viewers to meet Buzhardt unfiltered and unedited.

“That’s the word that carries all the weight,” she said. “That will carry you through.”

As downtown Batesburg-Leesville has shifted around her, Buzhardt and Mae’s have remained a constant in the landscape. Original green shag carpeting covers the floor, and wood panelling lines the walls around two large window displays. Mae’s first cash register rests proudly on the front counter of the shop.

Buzhardt has opened her store nearly every morning for more than six decades. But she says it hasn’t gotten old yet.

“When I turn the key every morning, it just feels so good, and I’m so happy,” Buzhardt said. “The day I can’t get that feeling I would close it.”

The store has stood in downtown Batesburg-Leesville in some form since 1916, first owned by a woman named Lona Etheridge.

“The only thing I knew about Lona Etheridge’s store was if it fit, you bought it because she had such beautiful, beautiful clothes,” Buzhardt said. “It was back in the days when she had one drop cord, a potbelly stove and no heat, but it was wonderful, and so I bought it.”

The shop moved across the street shortly after Buzhardt bought the larger building in 1969, and has served customers in that location for decades.

The 95-year-old has shown no interest in retiring or closing the shop, much to the town’s relief.

“They were just petrified that I was going to close,” Buzhardt said. “I’ve never been interested in retirement, because I would just be at home. That’s not for me.”

She credits her decades-long success to community support.

“The public is wonderful to me,” she said. “They have carried me down the bumpiest roads and brought me back on the shiny roads.”

Mae’s is open six days a week, Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The address of the shop is 130 North Oak St, Batesburg, SC, 29006.

Buzhardt plans to be at the store six days a week for years to come, greeting locals and visitors alike.

“I work those days because I think if you’re [on] a sign or whatever’s hanging outside the door, then you should be inside,” she said.