Taking advantage of the breather between Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, we’re checking in on business at downtown’s flower shops.
In her small Cortez Hill shop, Bloom Avenue founder Kira Ulan is hard at work creating a 100-piece rose bouquet for a same-day pickup order. She hand selects, cuts and places every rose in its place on a giant spiral.
Despite its $440 price tag, Ulan always has enough stock for these popular, elaborate rose bouquets.
As an iconic symbol of love, the rose remains the most popular flower at various downtown flower shops. In fact, some actually reported an increase in rose requests and sales for Valentine’s Day 2025, corroborated by a Business Times article.
Ulan affirms that roses take the cake, but that people have found new ways to enjoy the flower.
“People are open to discover other varieties,” Ulan says. “Recently, this Valentine’s Day, I was surprised that people were open to getting other colors of the roses, because usually it’s all about the red. But this year, we got lots of lavender roses.”
Ulan’s loyal customer base has stuck with her since she opened as Luna Flowers in 2022 and rebranded last year. She shares a space with Adore Coffee House.
“We have clients that work with us, we work with them from the beginning,” Ulan says. “Last Valentine’s Day, it was amazing. People came back and they were remembering their flowers from two years ago. They were like, ‘Oh, they were beautiful, I want the same thing this year.’”
In an industry worth nearly $7 billion nationally, finding and solidifying a clientele base is everything, especially to compete with chain grocery stores. Rana Yilmaz, founder of Mona Flowers in East Village (inside Comman Goods), explains how she’s trying to build her new brand through flower boxes.
“That’s why I got into flower boxes, because [grocery stores] usually have vases or just bouquets,” Ulan says. “So, I’m specializing in either boxed arrangements or bigger arrangements that you won’t be able to find at grocery stores. And, of course, events.”
Most of Yilmaz’s boxes are made of velvet suede and are reusable, though she also offers her flowers in baskets and antique vase centerpieces.
While Mona Flowers is less than two years old, Allen’s Flowers and Plants nearby in East Village has been an area staple for 20 years; the original Mission Valley location is celebrating 40 years.
“What sets us apart from grocery flowers, in general, is gonna be the quality of what we’re purchasing,” says Katelynn Rath, manager of the downtown Allen’s. “When we’re buying stuff, we’re looking for very specific quality. We’re more detailed. We take the time to process them a little bit differently than grocery stores. Whereas those flowers are immediately chopped and dropped and put on the floor, we go through each and every flower and make sure it meets our standards.”
While other local flower shops have closed or eliminated their storefronts over the last few years, Allen’s has been able to maintain its business.
“We had more business during Covid because the original love language of sending flowers was actually more popular for us,” Rath says. “We were able to continue maintaining our numbers pretty effortlessly because we also do orders to other states. We were able to stay in contact with other flower shops and wire out flowers for people…when nobody could go visit each other.”
Despite nearly 20 years in business, Luzney’s Flowers & Gifts in the Columbia District had to start from square one during Covid.
“Since I started, I [have] had the same customers,” founder and owner Lucy Beck says. “My business was doing excellently. Before the Covid, my book was full. Weddings, special events, after 16 years working hard for building. When the Covid started, my business slowed 100%. When I come back: No business. I start again from zero.”
Beck’s business was saved by help from the shop right next to her, Sante Tailoring, which provided her with free handmade Covid masks to sell. Since Beck’s shop is located in an office-style building with no direct street access, building new clientele isn’t easy.
“I need more walking-in customers,” Beck says. “Inside here, it’s hard for people to find me and I prefer to have my own shop. I don’t like working at home. I prefer to get out in the morning, go to my work, close at 5 o’clock, go to my house… I am here because I do it for many years and people know me.”
Beck started her career as an engineer in her home country of Venezuela. She moved to the U.S. after her position was eliminated under the incoming president at the time. Beck’s involvement in the flower business stemmed out of an artistic passion and hobby.
“I [am an] artist,” she says. “I like to make jewelry, I paint, I use petroleum for flowers. For us, it’s nothing I planned.”
Though she still makes jewelry on the side, she diverts most of her artistry to creating custom and unique designs. Like the other downtown flower shops, Beck is aiming to find a niche and stand out against big competitors.
“It’s a lot of competition with the supermarkets,” Beck says. “Sometimes the same people that send their flowers to [my] flower shop, the same farm in Ecuador, they sell it to the supermarket. The same product. The supermarkets sell it at the price [my] flower shop pays today. I don’t know how.”
Bloom Avenue’s Ulan has a metaphor for the price and quality gaps between grocery stores and her small floral shop.
“Sometimes I compare the flower shop and the grocery shop to restaurants and the grocery store,” Ulan says. “At the restaurants, you have the finished product. It’s all set up, it’s cooked. So, here, we do the same thing. We arrange flowers, we take care of them differently and the flowers themselves are a very different quality.” SDSun
