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A look inside: June/July 2005
Gammage Flowers |
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Written by Anja Sonnenberg
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Reputed to be one of Canada’s oldest flower shops, Gammage Flowers was
established in the late 1800s as a strawberry growing operation, which
eventually evolved into a retail florist. Originally located on
Gammage Street, hence the name of the shop, it now resides across town
in a heritage building situated on a busy main street in London,
Ontario.
Gammage Flowers : Delighting Customers by Creating a Shopping Experience
 Reputed to be one of Canada’s oldest flower shops, Gammage Flowers was established in the late 1800s as a strawberry growing operation, which eventually evolved into a retail florist. Originally located on Gammage Street, hence the name of the shop, it now resides across town in a heritage building situated on a busy main street in London, Ontario.
“We’re located on a main artery in the city,” says Sarah Geddes, owner of Gammage Flowers. “I couldn’t ask for a better location.”
Geddes, who decided to buy the shop nine years ago, has no regrets.
“It was an awesome business, and in terms of making a business decision – it was a good one.” An operating nurse in her prior life, Geddes admits that running and operating a business has it’s own stressors.
“I don’t know how I would compare a Valentine’s Day to scrubbing for a liver transplant, but they are equally stressful – just different.”
Gammage Flowers’ unique store layout allows customers to enter through the west entrance, which leads them into a large retail space filled with a vast selection of giftware, fresh floral products, silks, the cooler, and cash register. They can then meander through the store, past the open concept office and design area, and eventually find themselves in another open foyer filled with eye-catching displays, and an alternative store exit. Along their journey, beautifully displayed gift and home décor items tucked around each corner delight customers. Gammage Flowers prides itself on using every conceivable square inch in the shop to display their merchandise.
 Customers are hard-pressed to leave the shop without being greeted by the resident cats, Ollie and Powder.
“They’re like Wal-Mart greeters,” says Geddes. “People bring them treats, and everyone knows their names. In fact, a wall has been devoted to photos, which customers bring in of their own pets and loved ones to share with the staff. Rescued from the local animal shelter, the cats were originally ‘hired’ to control the mouse population of the old building, but now they’ve been promoted to the store’s official spokes ‘cats.’
Instead of traditional advertising methods, Gammage Flowers uses landscaping and signage to draw customer into the shop.
“Thousands of cars go by everyday,” Geddes says. “You never know if people are reading your sign. One year we had the slogan ‘Tell her you’d hire her all over again’ for secretaries week on our sign. We got more calls to say how dare you assume that secretaries are women. So now we say ‘Tell them … .’ It proves that people are reading our signs. So we put a lot of our advertising into landscaping, property maintenance and our signs.”
Gammage has advertised in business magazines for their corporate clients, which they’ve aggressively gone after.
“I think that that’s something which keeps you buoyant, and we’ve certainly been very lucky. We’ve enjoyed a lot of corporate relationships,” Geddes says. Gammage also does a lot of work for the university and the hospital, which are both located within a five-minute radius.
Home decorating and high-end custom silks are other aspects of the floral business, which Gammage specializes in.
“A lot of interior decorators and furniture stores refer people to our store. Doing this aspect of the business is a real commitment.” Geddes has noticed that the quality of silks is improving yearly.
“The orchids that we sell are so life-like, that people actually water them,” says Geddes. “I find that people from our corporate accounts want something that is low maintenance and silks are the ideal solution.”
Geddes describes Gammage’s design theme as high-end, which is very clean with a touch of natural garden style.
“We do a huge amount of funeral work. It’s spectacular work, that is non-traditional and certainly not your typical funeral arrangements. We try to do our share of weddings, but we’re known for doing really nice funeral work.”
 Trust and excellent working relationships are vital when working with funeral homes, and Gammage Flowers prides itself in creating gorgeous arrangements for clients during this difficult time.
“I’ve very proud of that. It’s an area where you can make a difference, and that has been a thrust for us in the past few years. We try to do something very different in that area. I think funerals are very under-rated, and it’s a place where you can stand out,” says Geddes. The funeral homes work with various florists, but when clients are looking for specific work, which is non-traditional, the funeral homes will direct their clients to Gammage.
Gammage Flowers has its fair share of competition, but Geddes doesn’t view other florists as direct competitors.
“Our policy is that if we can’t help you, then we’ll find someone who can. I think in the end it helps everyone,” Geddes says. “You’re not losing a customer – I think that’s what customer service is all about.”
Box store competition, on the other hand, is something that affects Gammage and all other florists across Canada. .
“Years ago, box stores didn’t carry high-end products – now they do. They do a good job and they carry good merchandise at a very reasonable price. We’ve tried to source out merchandise, which box stores won’t carry. We try to have a broad group of wholesalers who we buy from so that will avoid having the same products.” Geddes’ philosophy is to go high end with her giftware and merchandise, so the box stores are no longer her competition.
“You’ve got to constantly look over your shoulder, and check out what the box stores are doing to make sure you’ve separated yourself from them. They certainly make people look alive – their hand-tieds are beautiful. They do good work, but we have to do better work. There’s nothing wrong with competition. It makes everyone better. It’s a very sobering nudge for a lot of retailers. I think the day of saying no one goes to the grocery stores for flowers is gone, because they’re work is good and they’re flowers are great,” says Geddes.
When asked about future endeavors for Gammage Flowers, Geddes says she’d like to continue to follow their current track – pursuing corporate, home décor, and new clients.
“Our push is going to be on industries that service people, the car industry for example. An important part of their work and their customer satisfaction could be what we help them with. So when someone thinks of saying thank you, they’ll automatically call us.”
With a keen business sense, an incredible design team, an excellent location, and no regrets, Geddes is certainly on the right track. And if Ollie and Powder continue to greet customers at the door to have their bellies stroked, Gammage Flowers will continue to be shopping destination for all.
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