studioflora Intro

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SpringCity

New Member
May 19, 2008
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Milwaukee
State / Prov
WI
- How long have you been in business?
12 years

- Do you have any formal floral education? Mostly on-the-job training

- How were you referred to FlowerChat? I stumbled upon it while surfing the net

- What do you hope to gain from membership? Connect with other florists and see how others do things

- What do you feel you can contribute to the community?
Design ideas, humor, support

- Do you operate from a commercial building or your residence? I am in the very beginning stages of getting ready to open a retail shop.
 
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Good morning and thank you for your interest in FlowerChat.

I see you are in the beginning stages of opening a shop... what have you been doing prior to this? Have you been working with others or have you been working from your home?

V
 
Hi! Glad to be here

I recently decided to open a retail shop; "bad economy" or not... actually it is a joint decision of my husband and myself. We both know exactly what we're getting into but maybe we're gluttons for punishment? Ha. I have been in the business for 12 years plus. I have left a couple of times too but I think it's like the Mob, you can never really leave. I'm pretty excited about my new venture, I have a lot of ideas and it's bordering on an obsession right now. We're looking for a building to buy and it's going to quite a process, I'm sure.
 
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whoops, not sure why the frowny face next to my post! newbie error I guess....that is pretty hilarious.
 
Hi, Victoria,
I have worked for others and also had a wedding studio for a few years. I am currently freelancing. I also posted another intro somewhere but not sure if it's showing up.
 
:) More often than not I don't notice the regular emoticons, so don't worry about it.

No guts not glory when it comes to business in any of it's stages. Will your new shop be full service, or event oriented only?

V
 
Welcome! 'lots of ideas and bordering on obsession' well.. i have to say you'll fit right in!!
good luck looking for and buying your building, that's what we(hubby and I) did too.
 
Yay, replies!
Ok I will answer the questions here:

The new shop will be full-service. Everyday flowers, events, corporate. I'm really interested in getting corporate work. That's my favorite. Brides can be fun but I love the no-nonsense aspect of corporate work. They call and say "this is what I want, this is my budget, get it done, see ya later."

As for buying the building, I wouldn't do it any other way. Rents are so high and as much as I love the biz, I'd like to have other options when it's time to be done. Yeah, exit strategy before even opening. Maybe that's weird...

I see/have worked in so many shops where there is a ton of giftware aka clutter that sells slowly or not at all. My idea is to have LOTS of plants (mostly indoor ones), a variety of containers, of course fresh flowers, some cards and a very few statuary, windchimes things like that. Some will say you have to have plush, balloons, 3 or 4 candle lines, etc. At this point I'm not going that route.

The time frame is ... unsure. A lot depends on when we find a building. We're actively looking now but my husband warned me it could be a year. I guess I'm ok with that to get the right location. We live in the suburbs and I want something sort of central where we could deliver into the city or into the burbs. It also must have really good parking for customers. So far the parking thing is the biggest challenge.
 
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Thanks for your candor. Welcome to Flowerchat. It is a great place for all kinds of reasons.

V
 
Oh & forgot to mention style!
I am going to go for an artsy feel, funky, fun, modern.
Some exotic plants like ladyslippers etc. along with the regulars...my design style is pretty colorful - I like to use color combos that are a little unusual but I can also do shades of white or gardeny or whatever people request... Art by local artists on the walls, cool, loungey-type chillout music playing, containers you don't see everywhere, card lines that you don't see in all the shops around town, & so on. I'm sure it will evolve. I also have some marketing/promotional ideas that I am excited about to get people in the shop but don't want to spill the beans just yet.
 
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