shop profile By Marianne Cotter
Photography by Pam’s Photography
Long live the fullservice, mom-and-pop shop with adventurous design. IF YOU ASK Jenny Thomasson for her opinion on how to succeed as a florist today, she might say that one key strategy is to avoid becoming overspecialized. “I think it’s very important for us as florists not to put ourselves in boxes,” she says. “If we decide we’re not going to do everyday arrangements anymore, we are going to lose this great business of ours. Customers will gravitate even more towards buying online and forgo the great sensual experience you can only get in a flower shop.” Also at risk are the personal bonds that grow between florist and customer during the in-shop experience—bonds that often lead 18 www.flowersandmagazine.com
to larger orders and profitable referrals. “So often the customers who rely on us for everyday arrangements are the same customers who enthusiastically refer us to the recently engaged,” says Jenny. Jenny’s passion for the full-service, momand-pop flower shop goes back to the early days when she discovered her love for the business. She was a college kid studying graphic design when she took a part-time job in a flower shop. “After one month I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” she recalls. “I worked at three independent flower shops and the last one was a second-generation shop. I learned so much from the older generation. They opened during the Great Depression—even more difficult economic times than we face today—and grew a business that has survived. It showed me that flowers will always have a place in our lives no matter how hard times are.” By 2004, after a year of planning, Jenny was ready to start her own shop. But that
Since 2009, Stems has occupied a brick building in the historic city of Florissant, Missouri, where the shop’s contemporary style creates a fusion of old and new. wasn’t all. “My husband and I got married, bought a house, had a baby, and opened a flower shop, all in the same year,” she explains. “People ask us how we did it. ‘Entrepreneurs gone crazy!’ we say.” With mom Kim Brannan as co-owner and husband Joe as chief moral support officer (still working his own job), Jenny initially ran the business by herself—baby on hip, flowers and foam in hand—always focused on growing into a true mom-and-pop shop. “When Stems turned five years old,” Jenny says, “the business had grown so much that I couldn’t do it myself anymore.” So Joe quit his assistant manager job at Barnes and Noble and came on full-time to handle the business end; his retail experience was a much-appreciated