Frank Capra might have loved to film the story of Billie’s Pecans, a business that started on a family farm in Mississippi and grew over the years thanks to a mixture of earnestness and family recipes.

Stacy Crenshaw shows a selection of pecans and toffees produced by Billie’s Pecans in Crenshaw, Miss. Crenshaw is the daughter-in-law of Billie Crenshaw, who started the business 25 years ago in her kitchen. (Photo: Lance Murphey)

It began as a hobby. A few decades ago, Billie Crenshaw started collecting the abundance of pecans on her husband’s farm in the small town of Crenshaw and using them in recipes as fast as she could dream them up. It soon grew from a hobby into something more.

Her sons realized the sweet treats were good enough to be sold, they told their mother so, and she started selling them in Memphis at a place called Market Basket. She found additional outlets to distribute them – and one thing, as they say, led to another.

Eventually, she opened her own shop to sell and distribute her creations herself.

Crenshaw died a few months ago at age 80. Her daughter-in-law Stacy is the business’s current owner and ensures that it remains infused with its down-home tradition even as it grows thanks to a multi-faceted Web presence.

The Billie’s Pecans website promises: “As the world changes around us, we’ve kept things as simple as ever.”

Stacy Crenshaw lives with her husband in East Memphis, yet she still travels about 65 miles each week because of her desire to keep the business where Billie intended.

“My mother-in-law was the most wonderful person in the whole world,” Crenshaw said. “She was incredible, easy to work with, she laughed all the time and she was just a joy. She learned from me, and I learned from her.”

Crenshaw said her mother-in-law asked her about 20 years ago to go into business with her. So she did, and the business continued to grow and products continued to be added. The business’s product line now includes everything from Southern pecans to milk chocolate pecans – which many customers of Billie’s Pecans likely will be ordering next month for a certain holiday for couples.

Today, Billie’s Pecans products have been sold and delivered to customers in all 50 states, plus a growing number of foreign countries.

“Around 2004, (Billie) and her husband moved up here because they were getting older and wanted to be around the boys,” Crenshaw said. “It’s about an hour’s drive down there, but we’ve still kept it there and had the same employees for years.”

She said the presence in Crenshaw includes a storefront, shipping department, packing department and cooking area.

“Online is a big part of the business now, too,” she added. “We’re seasonal, but we do ship all year long. The busiest time of the year is October through January. A lot of corporate clients also send our pecans to new clients.”

The business’s online presence includes Facebook (www.facebook.com/BilliesPecans), Twitter (www.twitter.com/billiespecans) and a website (www.billiespecans.com). Plus, an email blast is sent out for different occasions.

An e-blast being sent out in tandem with Valentine’s Day entices customers to buy “our Simply Duo, the perfect combination of cinnamon-spiced pecans and chocolate-covered pecans.”

Crenshaw said one of her favorite parts about the work is getting to meet so many different types of people from around the world.

“I love being able to communicate and talk with them,” she said. “Sometimes, if they’re from far away, I can tell they love listening to our accents too.”