Prominent retailer and North Village stalwart Vivienne Jones, who presided over the iconic Jones Dry Goods Store, has died at the age of 102.

Ms Jones, fondly known as “Aunt V”, passed away on Friday night. Her funeral is planned for Thursday in Hamilton’s Anglican Cathedral.

“Her shop is 100 years old — it’s been a fixture in the North Village community for all those years,” her nephew Burton Jones told The Royal Gazette.

A canny retailer who managed to obtain good deals on her wares, Ms Jones was known for passing the bargain on to patrons of her shop.

“She was charitable, and she extended credit to her customers,” Mr Jones said. “It was a question of ‘Put something down and pay me before the end of the year’. She kept a great big ledger and simple wrote down the names. People respected that.”

Her store on The Glebe Road, founded by her father Walter, a tailor, and her mother Adelina, originally sold bolts of cloth and school uniforms.

“They catered to the needs of the community — they stocked whatever a house would need and for whatever room, which is how it grew and became so important,” Mr Jones said.

Ms Jones purchased a variety of goods from the US, aiming to stock items that weren’t found elsewhere on the Island.

“She was known in New York City among the people who sold goods — there were family-owned businesses in Lower Manhattan where people knew her by her mother’s name, because her mother bought from there,” her nephew added.

“She got deals that other people couldn’t get because of her charm and forcefulness. She did all her shopping at wholesale places there.”

Originally from Warwick, Ms Jones grew up in the neighbourhood of Glebe and St Monica’s Road. She studied singing at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and played the organ in church.

“She was well respected and well loved because she was so kind to people,” Mr Jones said. “She smiled the whole time and called everyone by name. She was a very spiritual woman — her presence was always felt in the room.”

She continued to oversee the store into her 100th year of life, he said.

The business was renovated in 2010 but kept to its traditional look, and even became a sightseeing attraction for older visitors. It remains in operation.

In 1997, when the business marked 75 years, Ms Jones told The Royal Gazette of its early days: “Those were the kerosene oil days when stores stayed open until 12 at night.” Its stock ranged from Cup Match ribbons to carriage supplies and Guy Fawkes Night fireworks.

Mr Jones said his aunt was “dapper in what she wore and a lady of few words — but they were wise words”.

“As a youngster, you always felt she could read your mind, because she had great intuition. If she were to ask you how you were doing or feeling, it wasn’t small talk,” he said.