Shining a Light on a Local Legend: LaFaye’s at 79th has been the hotspot for lamps, shades, repairs, and more for more than four decades

By Ashley Daniels

The cute little corner gift shop that could, LaFaye’s at 79^th, continues to be a Myrtle Beach mainstay after 42 years in business, with locations and ownership changing over that time span.

Originally owned by its namesake, LaFaye Clarkson, who passed away years ago, LaFaye’s opened in 1982 and was situated in downtown Myrtle Beach. The ownership torch was passed to Angela Clarkson, LaFaye’s daughter and the lifelong best friend of Marce Singleton.

“Angela and her husband really like to travel, so she was ready to give it up, and I wasn’t quite ready to stop working as manager here,” says Singleton, “so she handed it off to me in 2017 when we closed the store downtown, and I moved and reopened LaFaye’s in 2018 here at the corner of 79^th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard.”

Renowned for its inventory of lamps and shades, as well as repair services for those items, LaFaye’s also offers gifts and accessories, home décor, candles, jewelry, and more.

“Lamps and shades are our main business, which was the focus of the store when it first opened and really still is,” says Singleton. “But you realize in a small store like this that people are not going to be coming in here to buy a lamp or a shade every day. You buy those things, and they’re an investment, and you keep them, so I’ve added little home décor pickup things for customers to notice when they are here with their lamp needs so that they come back and shop when they need gifts. And that has been a good thing for us.”

As for lamp repairs, Singleton says she has a “lamp doctor” on staff, a retired master electrician to help with repair needs, and two employees who have learned the basics of the trade from the experienced repairmen.

“Many of the lamps that we repair are really almost heirlooms,” says Singleton. “People have had them for a long time, and they bring them in to have them updated, which may mean that we take off the old wooden base and put on an acrylic base, an acrylic cap, and a new shade for a vintage lamp with an updated look. People want to preserve lamps that their families have left them, or some of my older customers have had their lamps for 50 years, and they need a new cord or a new socket or something like that. A lot of those vintage lamps have had soak shades, which probably was all there used to be, but with the old incandescent bulbs and the heat in there, would cause the shade to rot.”

LaFaye’s also recommends that customers, for safety’s sake, switch bulbs to LED so they don’t get too hot. They just need to educate those who are leery of the stigma surrounding LED lighting’s blue/bright white, operating room-like aesthetic. Singleton assures that there are warmer LED lighting options available.

Besides focusing on lamps and lighting, LaFaye’s also supports local artists and jewelers and offers distinct gifts and home décor elements, such as fun cocktail napkins, mirrors, florals and planters, the French line of Trapp candles and fragrances, clocks, picture frames, and more.

Singleton has always been involved in retail in some way, shape, or form. At as young as ten years old, she was working in the family business in Myrtle Beach, Northside Pharmacy, owned by her father, John B. Singleton. Now that she has employees she can trust to cover the store, she says she wants to travel more often than she has for the last 15 years—from Blowing Rock and Asheville, North Carolina, to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit, to the south of France and Greece.

“Come in and see us at LaFaye’s,” says Singleton. “It is a great gift when people come in and come back over and over!”

LaFaye’s is located at 7901 North Ocean Blvd. For more information or, if you are a local artist wishing to sell your wares here, visit Lafayesat79th.com or call 843-626-9952.