LaDonna Frieze, the store’s custom silk designer, mills about the many silk creations that fill the store’s front showroom, from silver-and-white-trimmed Christmas trees to autumn-hued centerpieces to porcelain-faced dolls dressed in pastel colors.

Frieze has worked at the store for 22 years. She spends much of her time in a small space in a back room where she makes all the silk arrangements.

When she’s not doing that, she puts together custom orders for some of her regular patrons, some of whom she’s worked with for years.

One of them has asked her to supply a Christmas tree for every room of her home. Another has asked for a tree “in silver and white with lots of glitz,” Frieze said with a smile.

Sometimes the customers bring in swatches of fabric for Frieze to match in her arrangements. Other times she’ll go to customers’ homes.

“I enjoy it,” she said of her work. “It’s something I don’t tire of. It’s never boring and I like the people,” she added, noting several customers have become friends.

She also likes working part time. Aside from Tucker, all the store’s 10 employees work part time.

Elsewhere in the store, just behind the counter, Ellington explains the life of being a fresh designer, someone who works with fresh flowers.

She puts together orders as they come in, typically about 22 to 30 a day. But that number soars around holidays. Her record is 135.

In her 17 years at the store, she’s also learned some tricks of the trade. Customers either like all-rose bouquets or mixed bouquets; the breakdown is about 50/50, she said.

Some customers prefer pink and yellow color combinations; other prefer seasonal palettes. But with bouquets destined for men, it’s best to stick with reds, purples and yellows.

“I love my job,” Ellington said. “It’s fun being creative and making arrangements.”

“We’re all good buds,” she said of her co-workers. “It’s a friendly place to be.”

Tucker said the work is fun and rewarding. “Usually it’s happy occasions, weddings, birthdays and anniversaries” that customers want help with. “We also share people’s sorrow for funerals,” she said.

Sue Long, who has owned the business with her husband, Brent, since 1979, said she likes how her vocation keeps her abreast of significant life events among community members.

But working in a flower shop has its challenges, too. Ellington said handling so many thorny roses near Valentine’s Day leaves her hands swollen and spotted.

Frieze inadvertently once impaled her hand with a pointed steel pick she uses to attach silk flowers. She now has a nickname for the machine that attaches the picks to flowers: the death machine.

And everyone in the shop acknowledged holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day lead to long, stressful days.

Asked what they do to keep things light during the flower-frenzied occasions, Tucker joked, “Food.”

“Feed us,” Frieze said almost simultaneously.

“We’re usually on a sugar high through the holidays,” Tucker added. “Everybody bakes something and brings it in.”

Source:
This article information source by NRToday.com, reporter Kathy Korengel

Sponsored links