How to start a flower shop and flower delivery business – interview
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In this article, I interview Jim Bloom, the owner of a few successful flower delivery shops in New York. Peter owns NYC flowers in the Manhattan area, Queens flowers in Queens, New York and Brooklyn flowers in Brooklyn, New York.
1) How did you get into the flower business?
About 20 years ago I started getting interested in gardening I always wanted to be something to do with flowers about 15 years ago I opened up my first store in Queens New York so history from there.
2) Did you open all your locations at the same time?
My first store was in Queens New York after that we opened up stores all up in the other boroughs Brooklyn and of course Manhattan and then Long Island.
3) What do you recommend anyone getting into the flower business?
Anyone getting into the flower business should be most concerned with how are they going to get new customers they should focus on retail to corporate accounts such as hotels, and other venues as well as event planning weddings and such these are all important.
4) How do you make sure that you have the best flowers?
All of our flowers come from areas very far away. They fly here on special planes with cooling systems to keep them cold once they arrive at airport, they are kept in cold storage untill they arrive to our stores. We make sure to order flowers on a weekly basis to keep our stock moving daily.
5) What was the hardest part of making your business successful?
There’s so many pieces to keep a flower shop successful. You have to worry about your retail. You have to worry about your staff. You have to worry about making sure that you can pay all the other bills that go with owning a business. It’s not very different than anything else the one good part is that you get to enjoy all the beautiful flowers at the end of the day and it smells good.
6) What do you do for marketing your flower shop?
Quality is the best marketing tool. We have the best flowers. People love our work, come back to us, and recommend us to their friends. Other than that, I make sure that my website is discovered when people search online.
We are also a part of the community where we do business. Any time there is a big event, we are present there, provide the most beautiful flower arrangements, people see the flowers, ask where such beautiful arrangements can be made, and take our business card.
7) What would you recommend anyone who wants to open a flower shop?
Be ready to work hard and love flowers. I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I still wake up at 5am every day. The flower show will be your life. You better enjoy it.
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