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In Bloom Floral Boutique in Victoria, B.C., is set up to deliver customers a spa-like boutique feel.
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The owners of In Bloom Floral Boutique believe that more than just the plants can be greener in their shop – so can the flowers, vases, packaging, business processes and methods of delivery, just to name a few.
Kelly and Tarra Darwin are the couple at the helm of In Bloom Floral Boutique, an eco-minded florist in Victoria, B.C. The shop opened four years ago after the couple decided to branch out on an endeavour together. They combined Tarra’s background and experience in the floral industry with Kelly’s knowledge of web development to launch the flower shop.
In Bloom Floral Boutique is located in the city’s largest shopping centre and employs eight staff members, two of which are the main designers. The 600-square-foot business is set up to deliver a spa-type boutique feel to customers. Kelly Darwin says when they began planning the shop they wanted the style to be a little higher end in the quality of product they offered, and the designs to be contemporary and cutting edge. The shop uses earthy tones and clean, natural décor to create this type of atmosphere.
It wasn’t long after the shop opened that In Bloom Floral Boutique found their green niche, which was actually inspired by one of the shop’s candle suppliers. That particular company was encouraging customers to bring used votives back to the retailer for a rebate against their next one. Darwin says the program motivated them to look for ways that they could become more eco-conscious. “We started thinking well, this is a really good idea – maybe we can take it one step further. It just started building from there.”
The shop’s first foray into green initiatives was setting up an internal recycling system to take care of the cardboard, plastics and paper that the florist uses. Darwin says they also looked at how they could reduce the amount of waste they produced. “We built our own point of sale system so we can keep all of our information in-house. We try to reduce as much paper production as possible so we don’t have to print as much stuff out, which is a big one in the industry.” They purchase their flowers at the nearby flower auction, which operates on a deposit system where Darwin says they can return the buckets and boxes that the flowers are shipped in to save on waste.
One of the most significant changes the shop has made in terms of reducing their carbon footprint has been to switch to using biodegradable cellophane. Darwin says his calculations show that by making this change, the shop is diverting between 20,000 to 30,000 linear feet of plastic cellophane from the landfill. “That’s probably the single transition that we’ve made that’s had the biggest impact.”
Some of the more recent green ideas the shop has implemented are trade-back programs with their customers. Flower recipients can choose to bring back their vase once their flowers have withered and in exchange, the shop will buy the vase back or give the customer credit towards something else in the store. Speaking of withered, the customer can also bring back that expired bouquet to receive a 10 per cent discount on another product and the florist will compost the dead flowers for them. “We were trying to come up with ways to sort of involve the customer in the environmental process,” Darwin says. “By giving them a discount, it’s an incentive for them to say yeah, let’s compost this old stuff.”
Both Darwin and his wife are responsible for doing deliveries – another green idea but with a personal touch. “We wanted to be able to put them [deliveries] all together so we could come up with the best route and really make the length of delivery as short as possible so were not being inefficient…and people love it that the owners are the ones who bring them the flowers.”
At a Glance
Company Name:
In Bloom Floral Boutique
Location: Victoria, B.C.
Owners: Kelly and Tarra Darwin
Facility Space: 600 square feet
Website: www.inbloomfloral
boutique.ca
Wire Services: Teleflora
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The shop employees are continually brainstorming new green ideas and experimenting to see how they pan out. “It’s been gradually adding different things and trying new ideas. Not all of them work but we keep moving forward,” says Darwin.
In Bloom’s biggest specialty right now is providing customers with locally grown products. “Our number one priority with flowers is quality, but it’s also trying to buy everything in the shop as close to where we are as possible,” he says. “That’s the thing that sets us out from other shops in the area.” This also extends to the cards and art they sell – both of which are created by located artists-and their giftware and container lines.
The shop works closely with wholesaler to source out the local product. On big holidays like Valentine’s Day, Darwin says they’ve had no problems finding roses grown on Vancouver Island and sourcing other varieties like gerberas and lilies from Vancouver. He admits that they do get customers that are set on imported varieties and says the shop will make the purchase to please them.
Staying stocked with flowers grown close to home can be a challenge, but it’s one that the Darwins are willing to accept. “We are always trying to get a better product and sometimes you can’t get something local. Then we try and find what we can do instead of this item that we can find local.” For example, if during a certain time of the year, In Bloom can’t source local asters, then Darwin says they will try and come up with another type of flower that’s similar in colour and texture and readily available nearby to replace it.
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In Bloom’s biggest specialty right now is providing customers with locally grown products.
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As a result of these efforts, In Bloom Floral Boutique is one of the few florists listed in Victoria’s phonebook in a special section called the Eco-Finder. The florist applied to be in this section and as part of the process had to submit the shop’s recycling procedures and explain what actions they were taking outside of the industry norm to go green. “That’s been a big help because a lot of people are looking in the phonebook and saying I want to buy from a shop that is environmentally responsible,” says Darwin. “Then can go right to this guide and say there’s one and somebody’s already vetted them out.”
The florist also highlights their green efforts on their website and this has grabbed, not only the attention of their customers, but also fellow florists. The In Bloom Floral Boutique listing is one of the top results in an ‘eco-friendly florist’ Google search and Darwin says florists will contact him to ask about their programs and initiatives and he’s only happy to share ideas. Darwin tries to update the site daily and says the site is popular with people who browse pictures of the designs and then phone to order. The site also has online ordering capabilities.
Word has spread about In Bloom Floral Boutique’s green ways and traffic has increased. “We’re certainly starting to get noticed for being ecologically friendly,” says Darwin. The shop also receives constant compliments on the quality of their flowers, which he attributes to the fact that they are grown nearby. “You can’t beat the quality of having a flower that was picked in the morning instead of picked last week somewhere else.”
As far as future plans for the shop go, Darwin says they are working to offer more organic products to shoppers. “We are handling the way we deal with our waste and with our hard products. We recycle as much as we can and we reuse as much as we can. Now it’s time to take it to the next level.” He realizes this will be a challenge as the grower side of the industry is still working to develop the organic market but if In Bloom Floral Boutique has proved anything in the past four years, it’s that they are willing to put in the effort for the green payoff.
Environmentally Friendly Ideas to Try in Your Shop
| Go Green |
Go Greener
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| Grab the wrench and stop the dripping by fixing your leaky water faucet. |
Switch your taps to low-water-use faucets to reduce your water consumption. |
Stop automatically giving your customers plastic bags and charge per bag when requested.
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Go one step further by wrapping designs in bio-
degradable cellophane or recyclable Kraft paper.
Give incentives like a discount to customers who
bring their own reusable bags.
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Replace light bulbs with more energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
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Install a timer on outdoor lights and a motion sensor on backroom lights so they power down when no one’s around.
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Optimize your delivery routes so you aren’t making unnecessary trips.
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In the warm summer months, hire a student to deliver flowers on foot or by bike when possible.
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Recycle your waste. Save broken stems and reuse them in designs or jazz them up with ribbon and give away as freebies.
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If you have the space, set up a compost so you have a place to discard your leftover plant material.
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