|
|
 |
Top Shops: All About the Flowers
Sweet Violets offers fresh originality |
|
Written by Amanda Ryder
|
 |
At Sweet Violets in Guelph, Ont., displays are always changing to incorporate the constant arrival of fresh flowers. From left, Sweet Violets owners Kelli O’Hara and Sara Bullard along with employee Brenna Hanning.
|
| |
At a Glance
Company name: Sweet Violets
Location: Guelph, Ont.
Owners: Kelli O’Hara and Sara Bullard
Years in business: 8
Website: www.sweetviolets.ca
|
Located on a busy corner in Guelph’s historic downtown, Sweet Violets is
a shop filled to the brim with vibrant flowers and fresh foliage. It’s a
place that offers truly original designs and where no two are alike.
The store’s founder Kelli O’Hara describes Sweet Violets as a
“modern-spirited” shop where the young and enthusiastic staff members
inspire the style. She’s served at the helm of Sweet Violets since
opening it in 2003, although her journey to running a flower shop
actually began when she was very young. It’s safe to say floristry was a
natural fit for her. Her mother and father started in the business at
the ages of 17 and 20, respectively, and together they owned several
flower shops during O’Hara’s childhood. She grew up making water picks
and bows and followed in their footsteps after high school, attending
flower school in Toronto to hone her craft.
After graduating, O’Hara set out to find a flower shop she could call her own. “I was looking for a place that would support a different sort of flower business, like this is, not a traditional kind of place,” she says. O’Hara’s desire to live in a small town led her away from Toronto and she began taking day trips to Guelph, which she saw as “a hip, happening place.” She took the plunge and opened a studio business for a year or two. “The response was great and I realized that Guelph could support what I wanted to do.” Taking this as a sign to really go for it, O’Hara began renting what used to be a tiny barbershop and opened the doors to Sweet Violets in 2003.
Sweet Violets was a success right from the start; Guelph residents were
happy to find a new source of contemporary designs. As the business
continued to grow and gain more clientele, the shop’s small,
226-square-foot size soon became problematic. When, in 2007, it was
clear they were busting at the seams, O’Hara renovated what was once the
basement of the business and blew open a wall to create the current
two-level, 1,000-square-foot, expanded retail space. The latest change
to the shop came in June of this year when the florist teamed up with
the store’s manager, Sara Bullard, and added her on as a partner to the
business.
The flower shop employs five staff members, including O’Hara and Bullard, and everyone shares the workload, from cleaning the cooler and taking orders to arranging flowers at the design table. You won’t find any two designs alike at Sweet Violets: “Each order is a one-off and it’s specified to the customer so it’s an original design,” she says. The floral designers and their creations are primarily influenced by their surroundings. “Mostly it’s inspiration from our day-to-day lives like fashion and we’re very inspired by the seasons.”
Sweet Violets’ bouquets are typically hand-tied and the flowers often feature a European-style garden look, tight-packed into glass, tank vases. Freshness is a priority for O’Hara, who travels to the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto every week to buy flowers directly from the farmers. From May to the year’s first frost, she estimates that approximately 70 per cent of their flower supply is local.
This plays well into Sweet Violets’ efforts to go green whenever they can. “Guelph’s a very green-forward community and those are our beliefs too,” says O’Hara. The florist carries Fair Trade flowers and recycles its flower boxes. They try to avoid the use of water picks and cellophane, opting instead for Kraft paper or minimal packaging.
Containers, flowers and plants dominate the retail space, and giftware is stocked at a minimum. “We have the odd little item around here to make the store look interesting, but we’re not a giftware store at all,” says O’Hara. The shop displays are lush with potted plants and flowers, all in complementary, unique containers, and these designs are merchandised on rustic wooden boxes and co-ordinating shelving. Often, when customers come into the shop, it’s a brand new experience. “We don’t have any silk or artificial material so we change the look of the store every week when I go to the market. That’s one of the big things about the shop. Customers are always coming in and seeing something fresh and different happening,” she says. She admits that sometimes the retail floor changes a little too quickly for her and her staff. “When I come back from the market on Tuesday, we make the store look beautiful. Then, if we’re busy that week, by the time Monday rolls around the store’s empty and we have to do it all again.”
Day-to-day business makes up much of Sweet Violets’ orders, although the business also caters to other sectors such as weddings and funerals. The florist’s location attracts a lot of walk-ins, while telephone orders and corporate accounts round out the rest of sales. One shop promotion that’s garnered a lot of feedback from customers is the Year of Flowers program. “Our regular customers buy this for a Christmas present for their mom or an anniversary present for their wife and the flowers are tailored for that specific person. People get the fresh flowers delivered to that person’s home every month or some people do it seasonally,” says O’Hara.
When asked what challenges the business has faced since it opened, O’Hara says size has always been a problem. Despite the expansion a few years back, she says she’d still love more space but doesn’t want to sacrifice her prime location on a busy downtown corner. With the exception of that, the entrepreneur admits she’s been fortunate. Like others, the store had a tough year when the economy dropped in 2009, but sales have seen steady increases every other year. “Our sales are the highest this year that they’ve ever been. Last year was our best year in the eight years we’ve been open and then this year is slightly higher than last year,” she says. Sweet Violets has also maintained a solid employee roster, thanks in part to a great working environment. O’Hara pays the staff well, accommodates vacation time and provides plenty of opportunity to learn new things and take on new challenges. She closes the shop between Christmas and New Year’s to give everyone some time to breathe after a busy holiday season.
Perhaps the shop’s key to success and its biggest strength is the passion O’Hara and her employees have for their product. Their enthusiasm for creativity is evident through the shop’s appearance and the detail that goes into every design. “When the flowers come in every Monday or I come back from the market, we’re thrilled,” says O’Hara. “We’re genuinely excited every week about the flowers. We’re just very into our jobs.”
|
|
|
