Longboat Key Flower Shop readies for in-person shopping

The Longboat Key Flower Shop is blooming toward its July grand opening. 

Owner Christy James shared that the new store is almost ready for customers to shop in person after a year of doing just deliveries.

James tackled Mother’s Day receiving 200 orders from her two flower shops in Longboat Key and Siesta Key; 130 of the orders were from Longboat residents.

With the flower-heavy holiday under her belt, James is excited to focus on finishing the construction of her shop, which began shortly after she signed the lease in August of last year.

Her contractor opened up the shop's front room to give her more space for her display while having her design room in the back. 

Painting is the last item on the agenda, which will be finished in the next week, James said. Then, she will decorate and start letting customers in. 

Photo by Petra Rivera

To make buying flowers easier, James plans to set up a self-service cooler for people to buy everyday arrangements and individual flowers whenever they want during business hours. The flowers will be organized based on price starting from $25 to $100 and beyond. 

This is a great way for customers to pick flowers in their desired price range and still get a quality unique arrangement that will last longer than grocery-store bought ones, James said. 

“We are a real flower shop where we actually process flowers,” said James. “We take care of them. We nurture them. We wrap them. We design them. Yes, the grocery stores have low-priced flowers, but they might not even come from the same place. They come from a middleman where the flowers won’t last as long or won’t be designed the same way that a local floral shop does.” 

The shop will also offer unique flowers that most grocery stores won’t have such as Asiatic lilies and orchids, said James. Along with flowers galore, James’ shop will sell refurbished antiques and one-of-a-kind knick-knacks, which are her other passions.

She had her ribbon cutting with the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce on April 4. James hosted chamber members and Longboat residents to take a peek into her shop while sharing cake, bites and free flowers. Since this event, James said that the feedback has been tremendous. 

With construction almost finished, James plans to hold an open house for the whole month of July starting around the Fourth of July holiday. Customers will be invited to browse and get to know James while having refreshments. Each person will receive a special tea cup with flowers and a tea bag in it to promote future events she has planned such as flower designing classes and mingling events discussing faith. 

"Flowers are really therapy," said James. "When people come to the shop for the first time, I want them to really enjoy. Have a good time, smell the beautiful smell and see how gorgeous flowers are."