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Tops Shops: Designed to the Nines
Flowers on 9th always looking ahead |
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Written by Amanda Ryder
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Customers of Flowers on 9th in Lethbridge, Alta., have come to expect
flowers that almost never die and a product selection that’s always
ahead of the trends.
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Flowers on 9th in Lethbridge, Alta., attracts customers of all ages to its storefront. There’s been a recent increase in younger shoppers and owner Darcy Gust credits a contemporary product mix and quality blooms for this change in clientele.
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The shop has been a fixture in the southern Alberta city and recently
celebrated 57 years in business this past November. It was opened by a
woman named Lorna Perry who ran the shop successfully as Lorna’s
Flowers for many years. Over time, the company changed hands, and names
and was struggling, when Darcy Gust took over more than seven years
ago. In just that short time, Gust has transformed Flowers on 9th into
a contemporary floral shop that keeps customers wanting more.
Gust brings his own influences to the florist’s designs and has created
a signature style for Flowers on 9th. “I think being a man in this
industry, you tend to approach things differently. My designs are a
little more linear and a little more architectural in their look, as
opposed to arrangements that are soft and round. We do things that
always have a few really strong lines in them,” he says. A popular look
with customers is designs that feature materials like river rock and
curly willow, combined with flowers and done low in square glass vases.
One thing Gust and his floral designers always try to do is to include
at least one element in a design that people don’t normally see.
They’ll bring in brazilia berry, eryngium or boronia when it’s in
season to add interest to the arrangement. “A customer can receive a
bouquet that hasdaisies and lilies in it, but if there’s something
different in it, they’re intrigued by that and they’ll ask ‘what’s
that?” It might be a common everyday flower, but if you put in that
extra flower, it really excites them about the whole arrangement,” says
Gust.
Located one block from the hospital and almost next door to a seniors
home, the florist has to have flowers to cater to these places. “We get
a lot of calls for designs that take up a lower footprint. There’s not
a lot of room in those rooms so we do things that might be a little
taller and narrower.” Gust says they make sure they have low-priced
options in the cooler for the shopper on the go who is grabbing flowers
for a friend or loved one.
In terms of clientele, Flowers on 9th attracts a mixed crowd. Gust says
he inherited a lot of older clientele when he bought the store so his
customers’ ages run as high as 80 years old and as low as 18, to Gust’s
surprise. “I’ve been in this industry for 25 years and it amazes me how
many young people we have coming in here – I’m talking under 25 – on a
regular basis to get flowers,” he says. “I think it’s because of what
we offer and where we’ve positioned ourselves. We’ve exposed these
people to flowers and it’s been a positive experience for them.”
Gust believes this is also the result of his efforts to source out
unique and hard-to-find items. The shop relies on the Internet as a
source for trends and new product ideas, and also pumps his sales reps
for recommendations. “If I’m dealing with a sales rep that reps five or
six lines, they might come in to show me one line, but I always ask
‘what else do you have?’ We’ve had great luck with that as far as
bringing in things that are different.”
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At a Glance
Company name:
Flowers on 9th
Location:
Lethbridge, Alta.
Owner: Darcy Gust
Years in business: 57
Size: 1,100 square feet
Wire service: Teleflora
Website:
www.flowerson9th.com
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While the primary focus at Flowers on 9th is, in fact, flowers, Gust is
willing to experiment with additional giftware items to round out his
offerings. Last year, his staff urged him to bring in a line of women’s
scarves. “I was resistant to doing it. I said ‘we’re a flower shop, we
don’t need to sell scarves.’” His young staff of females eventually
convinced him and Gust admits he was happy to be proven wrong. The
first shipment sold and just two weeks later the shop put in another
order. Between October and December, hundreds of scarves flew off the
shelves and Gust has brought a few of them back again, although he
knows the excitement may have worn off for his customers. “One of the
things I’ve learned is that you can’t always go back and repeat the
same thing,” says Gust. “If I find something that’s interesting that I
think we can sell, we bring it in, we sell it and we move on.” This
philosophy is part of the shop’s commitment to always look forward and
try to stay ahead of the trends.
Flowers on 9th is involved in all of the big floral markets – sympathy,
holiday, weddings and corporate. Gust says he’s working on increasing
the shop’s business clients because “it’s attractive to us in a sense
that corporate functions can happen any day of the week, not
necessarily on the weekend.” The shop does limit the number of weddings
they do based on the size of the event and weekend availability. This
strategy dates back to when Gust first took over the shop and ran the
business primarily by himself. He simply didn’t have the time or
employees to do many weddings at that time and had to turn down extra
requests. “Sometimes telling people ‘no’ creates a buzz,” Gust says.
“All of a sudden you become the one they want because no one else can
have it.”
While Gust doesn’t rely heavily on advertising to spread word about his
shop, one campaign that proved to be a great success for the shop in
the past was a bathroom billboard advertisement. A few years ago, a
local company put together high-quality artwork and photos for ads that
were featured in the bathrooms of area businesses. Gust had the option
of choosing where he wanted his ad posted. “At the gym, we chose female
restrooms and we chose male restrooms at local golf courses. We really
specified which restrooms we want to be in. We selected the nicer
nightclubs, staying away from the seedy bars and that really created a
lot of buzz and a lot of interest.”
One comment that the shop typically receives from customers is “I can’t
believe how long your flowers last.” A long vase life is a priority for
the shop and Gust says they are always looking for ways to stock the
store with only the freshest blooms. They bring in smaller shipments of
flowers three to four times a week. “I could buy in larger quantities
and get a better deal but it doesn’t make any sense to me in the long
run. It doesn’t pay off.” Gusts finds out from his wholesalers which
day the product arrives and that’s when he requests his flowers be
shipped. The staff at Flowers on 9th process everything themselves. “I
can’t control what happens to the shipment on the truck but through the
whole processing system we know what water went into it and what
preservative it had so that’s worked out really well for us.”
When asked about the key to the success of Flowers on 9th, Gust credits
long hours, an optimistic outlook and confidence in his product. “You
have to work hard and you have to be positive,” he says. “We teach our
staff that you have to own it – you’re really good at what you do so
don’t ever question your ability or someone else’s opinion of what you
do.” He instils this confidence and professionalism in his employees so
that they can in turn make customers feel great about their flowers.
“The customer has tons of choices of stores that they can go and buy
flowers from. They come here for a reason. Why? Because we’re good at
what we do.”
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