OUR STORY

Lisette and Mary Beth, A 2016 collaboration with The Orange Beach Store x mb greene

A shared love of the Gulf. A friendship rooted in creativity and community. A celebration of sun, saltwater, and sand.


Founders Mary Beth Greene and Lisette Normann are longtime friends and creative spirits who’ve lived, worked, and raised families along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Over nearly two decades of friendship, they’ve cheered each other on through personal milestones and entrepreneurial adventures.  

As the founder of two iconic Alabama brands – The Orange Beach Store and The Fairhope Store – Lisette has spent a decade and a half creating community through her landmark stores. Mary Beth is also an entrepreneurial powerhouse as the founder of mb greene, maker of must-have totes and other essential bags. With The Gulf Shores Store, Mary Beth and Lisette are blending the very best of their popular product lines to celebrate and share the Gulf Shores sun, saltwater and sand – a perfect blend that's so easy for locals and visitors alike to enjoy.


MEET LISETTE

Lisette Milham Normann is an award-winning artist whose work blends the abstract with the deeply personal. Raised on the shores of Mobile Bay, she grew up surrounded by creativity, with a writer-artist mother and generations of family who lived and breathed the bay life – boating, sailing, and jumping off piers.

Lisette got her start in business at the tender age of six, earning $1 a day running a candy stand at the foot of the Fairhope Pier. On Sundays after church, her family would pack up in the car, pick up fried chicken from Greer's, and head down to Gulf Shores to play in the surf.

After building a successful career as an artist in New Orleans, Lisette returned home to raise her children in the same soulful town that shaped her. After launching The Fairhope Store in 2011, she went on to found The Orange Beach Store. Together, these iconic brands have gained household recognition across the South. When she's not focusing on her own stores, she designs for other companies and communities up and down the coast, capturing the charm and timelessness of life on the Gulf.


MEET MARY BETH

She was a high school teacher, a stay-at-home mom, and a sales rep for over a decade, but in 2015, Mary Beth Greene launched mb greene, a collection of travel wares that offered style, durability, and function. In true entrepreneurial fashion, her ideas would come to life at her kitchen table with paper, tape, and scissors. After securing a factory partner, the business began in her garage at home.  

Those humble beginnings quickly blossomed when her attention to detail and quality products were featured by Good Morning America, TODAY, and InStyle Magazine. They earned the attention of retailers like Neiman Marcus as well as hundreds of boutiques around the country.  

Her roots and family life story have been woven into every detail along the way, making it a true work of heART. Her designs are created to travel well to the beach and ballpark or across the globe. Mary Beth shares her love for color and thoughtful designs in every piece. Her favorite place to dream up new ideas just so happens to be the beach!


ONE STORE, ONE SHORE, ONE COMMUNITY

The Gulf Shores Store is more than just beachware and accessories. It’s a love letter to a place and its people.

We believe in the power of design to celebrate community. We want each piece to tell a story, spark a memory, or start a conversation. We are beach people, and we’re proud to create goods that reflect the resilient, sunny, come-as-you-are culture of Alabama’s Gulf Coast.

We’ve shared setbacks and celebrations, road trips and work trips, kids’ milestones and career leaps. We understand hustle. We know what it takes to start something from scratch, and we know it’s more fun doing it together.

Our hope is that The Gulf Shores Store brings you joy, fond memories, and a little piece of this place we love so much. Thanks for being part of the story.

 

Pictured above: Lisette and Mary Beth, A 2016 collaboration with The Orange Beach Store x mb greene