 Designing Women focuses on Julia Sugarbaker, a soft spoken southern woman and her ex-beauty queen and snobby sister Suzanne who own "Sugarbakers Design House" in Atlanta, Georgia. Their co-workers included the pretty red head Mary Jo and the sometimes dimitted but also pretty Charlene. Anthony was a black ex-con just recently out of prison who got a job at Sugarbakers doing delivery work. The series mainly focuses on the five of them, but they got frequent visits from their friends, family and customers. Julia s sometimes commanding boyfriend Reese visited and so did Charlene s husband Bill who is a US Colonel. Further uproar in Mary Jo s part included her confrontations with her children Quint and Claudia and her ex-husband Ted, until she got a new boyfriend named J.D. By far, Sugarbaker s frequent customer was the crazy old lady named Berniece. In 1989, Reese died and Suzanne moved away. Julia was forced to babysit the rich spoiled 10-year old Randa Oliver for a few weeks and Julia and her made a quick relationship between young and old. In 1991, Charlene and Bill also left to pursue other things, but Charlene s sister Carlene took her place as well did Julia s mean, snobby cousin Allison. In 1993 Julia finally sold Sugarbaker s design firm to her friend and new co-worker Bonnie at the end of the series.