Florence Ballard her suit. Angered, Gordy ordered her to return to Detroit, and Birdsong officially replaced her, abruptly ending her tenure with the Supremes. It had been decided as early as May that Birdsong would be Ballard's official replacement once Birdsong's contract with the Bluebelles was bought out. In August 1967, the "Detroit Free Press" reported that Ballard had taken a temporary leave of absence from the group due to "exhaustion". Ballard eventually married her boyfriend, Thomas Chapman, on February 29, 1968. A week earlier, on February 22, Ballard and Motown negotiated to have Ballard released from the label. Her attorney in
Ballard Designs Ballard continued to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Ballard Designs until she retired in 2002. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Cornerstone Brands. In 2010, the company partnered with award-winning designer, Suzanne Kasler, to create its first designer collection.In December 2012, Ballard Designs launched the Ballard+ app, an augmented reality shopping application developed by Marxent Labs which allows consumers to interact with the Ballard Designs catalog using their iOS device. The app has since been discontinued. Two years later, renowned interior designer and entertaining expert, Bunny Williams, became the second major designer to