The Show Must Go On! The Deliveries Must Go Out!

Today our FTD mercury system, which is basically the back-bone of the entire store, decided to implode. Mercury must be in retrograde or something. Needless to say, this makes it difficult to run the business smoothly since we can not process credit cards, print the cards for deliveries, keep track of inventory, or receive wire-orders. We’ve been transported back to the way our store was run in the 90′s…. but even then we could process credit cards! It is moments like this that test your adapting and survival skills. We are able to fax in our credit cards to the processing company and we have our wire-orders phoned in to the store. We’re writing out the delivery cards by hand (going old school and trying to use the best penmanship possible), and we’re routing our deliveries by hand. As you can imagine, all of this is frustrating and slow, but just as the show must go on, the deliveries must go out. It’s similar to that moment in ”It’s a Wonderful Life” when the stock market crash happens on George’s wedding day and the savings and loan must stay open until 5PM or else they will be forced out of business. You rally. You figure out a way. You keep trudging forward. You get the deliveries out.

Looking back, our shop has survived several tragedies, still getting the deliveries out in a timely manner. The first thing that comes to mind was when a brush fire came within yards of our home. Jodi rushed to the house to defend it with garden hoses, but the rest of us, including a 7-year-old version of myself, stayed at the store to make sure that people received their flowers. The great hwy 41 fire was another local tragedy that Bloom’n’Grow persevered through. We had to reroute our deliveries, but all of our orders were sent out.

Then, of course, we have September 11th. The day that the world stood still. Yet, we still sent out our deliveries, for what helps to soothe tragedy and mourning more than the sweet, innocent beauty of flowers? On September 11th, more than any other day, people needed a slight glimmer of hope. That hope just might lie in a brightly colored sunflower.

The local earthquake in December of 2003 was another difficult day. Not only did the earthquake shatter half of our vase supply, but it also occured only days before Christmas… a very busy time for the flower shop. What did we do? We cleaned up the shattered glass, improvised with what vases we had left, and got those orders out!

When life gets tough, sometimes it’s only that small satisfaction that you persevered and continued onward in order to help the lives of others. You never know what a bouquet of flowers can do to cheer up someone’s day; and that, in turn, helps make our day here at Bloom’n’Grow. So, if you haven’t given someone hope lately, consider stoping by the store to order some flowers. You’ll be happy you did, and so will we. (Plus, we should have our credit card machine up and running shortly!)

We have it all…. almost

On a daily basis, we have new customers come into the store completely confused. Is it a flower shop? Is it a gift shop? Is it a clothing shop? Is it a jewelry shop? A tux rental site? A photographer’s studio? A candy shop? The truth is, we are all of these things. We may be called Bloom’n'Grow Florist, but we, in fact, sell just about everything. We have 2 refrigerators filled to the brim with arranged flowers and a walk-in refrigerator the size of a small bedroom bursting with buckets of flowers. This walk-in is amazing in the Summer time. When I used to walk from school to the shop in the heat when I was in Jr. High and High School, I would enter the shop and head straight for the refrigerator, kick off my flip-flops, and let the 35 degree room normalize my body temperature. What initially catches your eye when you walk into the shop, though, is our expansive collection of gift items, all meticulously designed and arranged into displays which are treats for the eye. You never know what will catch your fancy: be it a wrought-iron bathtub filled with lotions and bath products, a bamboo bird cage containing 2 real spice finches named Ginger and Nutmeg, (come in and visit them. They’re always happy to sing for our customers.) or a small oven filled with martini supplies.

Yes, with over 3,000 square feet of gift items, you’re sure to find something for everyone on your list (even yourself).

We also have rented tuxes for the past 14 years, allowing couples one-stop shopping for formal dances, as well as weddings.We now have a photographer in residence through Bloom’n'Grow photography, so we can even provide you with your wedding photographer. Why travel to so many businesses when you can get everything in one place?

The last thing to be added to our list of services is voice lessons. Yes, you’ve heard that right. You can learn to sing at Bloom’n'Grow Florist. You see, in addition to assisting my mother, the owner, Jodi Bloom with the business, I obtained my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Vocal Arts and I now teach lessons in a studio in the back of the shop. For more information, visit www.marissabloom.com or visit my vocal blog: www.marissabloom.wordpress.com. We now truly have everything at the shop!

Well, almost everything. During our 23 years in business, we’ve been asked for some crazy things by our customers. Often times, crazy as the requests may be, we have been able to help them out. We have been asked for stamps, envelopes, copies (actually, we do have a copy and fax machine available for customer use), novels, llama stuffed animals (we actually DO have these), flamingo figurines (we have these too), blue carnations, and a black rose (they don’t actually exist, but we can make a rose black and a carnation blue). However, when people come in asking for shaving cream, tweezers, toothpicks, bottled water, knitting needles, and bridal gowns, we, unfortunately, have to send them to another store. We have a lot of items for sale here at Bloom’n'Grow, but we can’t literally have everything!

Autumn Hues and Witches’ Brews

Autumn is one of our favorite times at the flower shop. The scent of pumpkins wafts through the air while sunflowers, hypericum berries, and deep burgundy mums remind us of crunching leaves underfoot, Halloween candy, Thanksgiving dinner, and time spent with the family.

Family. We at Bloom’n'Grow consider ourselves a family. While Jodi Bloom, and myself, Marissa Bloom run the business as a mother-daughter team and throughout the years several relatives have been regulars on the payroll, even those who are not related by blood end up as family members over time. Regularly, we have former employees dropping by the store to check in: high school employees who have moved off to college, former employees who moved out of state, and even those who began their own flower shops elsewhere. Even our lifelong customers who literally watched me grow up over the 23 years we have been in business are now family.

For the past 2 years, I was living in West Virginia obtaining my masters degree. Never before had I seen such a beautiful showing of autumn leaves. Fall was, without a doubt, my favorite season there. Unfortunately, we do not get to witness the same spectacular bursts of arboreal color here on the central coast. Our Eucalyptus and oak trees cannot compete. However, what we lack in autumnal tree metamorphosis, we can make up for with our flower color palate. A bouquet of cherry brandy roses, sunflowers, blue thistle, safari sunset, bells of Ireland, and a touch of wheat can add that fall feeling to any room or event. Don’t know what these flowers look like? Stop by the store and we’ll be happy to show you! We’re always here to help our customers think outside of the “red rose with baby’s breath” box. Who knows? You may discover your new favorite flower. We hope you’ll stop by and see us soon.

Until then, go out of your way to step on a fallen leaf. The crunch will be sure to put a smile on your face.

Growing and Blooming

Welcome to Bloom’n'Grow Florist’s blog where we will give helpful flower care, preservation and design tips as well as provide you with interesting anecdotes and insights into this fascinating, family-owned and operated  floral business. Become part of our floral family and visit us at 9955 El Camino Real in Atascadero, CA or online at www.bloomngrow.com. Who knows, you might end up being mentioned in our next blog post!

Happy Reading!