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A look inside: Aug 2005
Piggy-Backing a Flower Shop with Other Successful Retail |
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Written by Anja Sonnenberg
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Quince Flowers
Piggy-Backing a Flower Shop with Other Successful Retail Businesses
Since the conception of Quince Flowers eight years ago, Rosemary Little has continued to follow her innovative ideas to further the success of her flower shop. After receiving her Fine Arts degree from York University, Little decided to further her education by attaining her Masters in Sociology in Visual Culture in London, England. It was in London where she began her career in the floral industry by working in Lady Julia Hodgkins’ flower shop. Over the course of eight years, Little went from moonlighting part-time as a flower cleaner to working full-time.
“I loved working in the art community, but it didn’t seem like a sure enough way to make a living,” Little says. “It was important to me to find a way I could make a living that I could rely on, and who better to rely on than yourself. So I decided to open my own floral business.”
At a Glance:
Company Name: Quince Flowers
Proprietor: Rosemary Little
Location: Toronto, Ontario
• Uptown: Dufflet Pastries & Quince Flowers on Yonge Street
• Downtown: Up Country & Quince Flowers on Adelaide Street
Facility Space: 2,000 sq.ft between both locations
Number of Employees: 4 full-time, 2 part-time
Number of years in business: 8 |
Since Littles returned to Toronto, she has grown Quince Flowers into a successful flower shop with two locations. The Eastern Avenue location resides in UpCountry Home & Garden, a trendy furniture store. This past January, UpCountry bought an old warehouse building, which they are renovating into a retailer’s dream. Being the savvy businesswomen that she is, Little decided to bring Quince Flowers’ Eastern Avenue location into the midst of this new location. The new Adelaide St. location, which will be completed in the fall of 2005, will have the furniture store, a café, Quince Flowers (located in the middle of the showroom) and an art gallery on the lower level.
“The design studio and storage will be located in the basement of the building.
“When I first began the business, one of my biggest problems was establishing a client base,” Little says. “By establishing myself with UpCountry who already had one, I got exposure.”
Quince Flowers’ other location is a joint venture between Little and Dufflet Rosenberg. Dufflet Pastries & Quince Flowers, located on Yonge Street, is a complete sensory experience, combining decadent treats for the palate and exquisite flowers to indulge the soul. It’s also the ideal location for brides-to-be to find the perfect wedding cake and the flowers of her dreams for that special day.
 “Dufflet Rosenberg and I met at the YMCA, where we became good friends and talked about doing another combined retail venture, this time with cakes and flowers,” Little says. “We were just waiting for the right space to come along, and when it did, we moved on it.”
Kohn Shnier Architects, who designed the retail space to fuse both retailers’ unique products, designed the Yonge Street location.
“Every other store I’ve had, I’ve had to fit myself into a
preexisting store. This store and the new Adelaide location, were specifically designed with a flower shop in mind,” Little says. “The Dufflet Pastries & Quince Flowers location is about 900 to 1000 sq. ft. We have about 25 per cent of the space. The whole back wall is our floral fridge, which really draws the eye down into the store. At night, it lights up the store like a jewel box.”
Quince Flowers employs four full-time and two part-time employees, who work both locations.
“Each of us have a store where we’re at more often, but we do try to mix it up,” says Little. “Another beauty of sharing retail space with another business is that there are always other staff there. You can work with a staff of four or five – three of them Dufflet staff and two of them being ours. I think it’s crucial in a small space that you enjoy the people you work with.”
With all of Quince Flowers’ business ventures, Little still finds time to indulge in her passion – creating beautiful arrangements.
“I spend about 70 per cent of my time working with flowers. I love doing it and I love being involved,” Little says. “All of my florists are experts and I have no problems relinquishing the work.”
Quince Flowers is a popular destination for brides-to-be, and Little does about 90 per cent of the wedding consultations herself. Corporate accounts are also a part of Quince Flowers’ client list.
“We’ve got some great clients, including restaurants, design firms and law firms. I’d love to have more,” Little says.
The flower shop also caters to the film industry, which is something Little became involved in when UpCountry’s clients were coming to rent furniture.
“Film work is great. They rent containers, plants, and floral arrangements from us. We recently had some arrangements go out and half of them had to be spring, and the other half winter,” Little says. “They’re always shooting different times of the year. The other nice thing about film is that the clients aren’t expecting longevity – they want something to shoot that day.”
From humble beginnings as a flower cleaner, Little certainly has come a long way in a short time. Both Quince Flowers locations are matched perfectly with their partnered business. Dufflet Pastries & Quince Flowers is the ideal solution for customers wanting to indulge their sweet tooth and to revitalize their soul. Quince Flowers and UpCountry offers customers everything they need to make their home complete, from furniture, to tropicals in stylish containers, to gorgeous bouquets of fresh flowers.
“Like most things in life, once you call yourself what you want to be, you will become it. I became a small business owner/florist,” Little says. Nothing is impossible if you follow your dreams, and Little has proven that with Quince Flowers. a
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