A Refreshing Change
With so many flower shops listed on the web and in the
yellow pages these days, the key to a successful business can often lie
in the name of the store. To catch the attention of busy consumers,
the name has to be catchy, distinct, easy to remember, and creative.
 When Barb Tuzyk was trying to decide what to name her flower shop eight years ago, she brainstormed through the whole alphabet, but there was something about the letter L that Tuzyk liked. The result was Lemon Tree Florist, which met Tuzyk’s criteria for a fun and intriguing name for her store.
Nestled in the heart of the Parkland region in Dauphin, Man. Lemon Tree Florist lives up to its name by offering customers ‘a refreshing change,’ which also happens to be the official store slogan.
“We decided to take a chance in this small community by offering our customers something a little bit different than what they were use to getting,” Tuzyk says. “We offer interesting flowers, beautiful giftware, and lots of handcrafted items. We also started a line exclusive to Lemon Tree called ‘Iron Will,’ which is artistic metal work. We do a lot of candleholders, mirrors, garden structures, CD stands, and custom work.” By offering trendy bouquets and unique giftware, Lemon Tree Florist is giving customers something out of the ordinary.
The town of Dauphin is home to two other flower shops, but Tuzyk has strived to make her store different.
“Although we do have customers that still want traditional arrangements, most of them are looking for that special, trendy arrangement,” says Tuzyk. “Not long ago we had an elderly lady come in to our shop, who we’ve sent flowers to over the years on special occasions. In the past, we’ve always sent her flowers that would typically be things you would send to an older lady, and this year on Mother’s Day we actually sent her a cube arrangement, that was low and filled with gerberas,” Tuzyk says. The elderly woman actually came into the shop after receiving her flowers to tell the staff at Lemon Tree how thrilled she was because she had never gotten anything like it before. Sometimes customers don’t know what they’re missing, and it can be an opportunity to show them what your store is really good at.
When the shop first opened, Tuzyk did a lot of advertising to bring Lemon Tree’s name to the attention of the public, but now she’s taking a different approach.
“It’s a community advertisement called DiscoverDauphin.com. We’ll have a virtual tour of our store and a voice over on the web site, which will tell people about us.” Lemon Tree Florist also has its own car, which Tuzyk believes is one of the most effective ways of advertising.
“We bought a little yellow car, and had lemons painted all over it. It’s been a really good advertising tool. Everyone calls it the lemon car.”
Lemon Tree Florist also offers unique promotional events like ‘Picture Your Mom.’ For an additional cost, you can have your mother photographed as she receives the flowers you sent her. The photo is then incorporated into a postcard and mailed to you.
“We got a lot of feedback from the event. Everyone who spent the extra money ($15.00) to have the photo taken was very pleased,” Tuzyk says. “It did involve a lot of extra co-ordination that you really don’t need on the holiday, but the end result was great.” To avoid any bathrobes or hair curlers, staff telephoned the recipients of the flowers to tell them what to expect.
Being the owner of a flower shop wasn’t what Tuzyk had planned to do as a career, but she was hooked after her first part-time job at a florist in town.
“I love what I’m doing,” Tuzyk says. “It’s been wonderful.”
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