It’s Monday morning, and crazy at La Fleur floral boutique. The phone is ringing, a client is waiting for his arrangement, and the birds in the cage in the corner need fresh water. John Freriksen and Shamus McKinnon, who along with Joanne Thomson own and operate La Fleur, are having a typical morning for their successful shop.
“What has happened in a half years time has been fantastic. It was hard starting out because I had to start all over again. In the past half-year people have really started to recognize what it is that we do and we have done extraordinarily well already. In a very short time it has been dramatic, and people really like what we do,” Freriksen told GayCalgary.com while making a stunning arrangement for a walk in client. McKinnon, taking a break from the phones, agreed.
“We are growing all the time. It has been really busy and we are getting a lot of weddings, more than what we expected. It is really cool. It is a neat facility.”
La Fleur opened in March and has become very successful in a short period time. The upscale flower shop is located in the trendy Art Central building on 7th avenue.
“The first time I saw this building I was at an event here and the feeling I got was one that was very inviting and different. It’s a very artistic building, so we feed off each other a lot. Being in this building is working really well because you can share ideas, and it brings a different type of clientele in the shop as well,” said Freriksen
“There is a lot of potential in this building. There is double the amount of tenants from when we moved in. It’s a great location being right off Center Street in the heart of the theatre and hotel district and right on the C-train line. There are no common things in this building; it all has to be independent, local and artistic. It is all art,” added McKinnon.
While McKinnon is new to the floral industry, Freriksen grew up with it. The Holland born designer has been working with flowers for over thirty years, taking European designs, as well as his experience working with the rich and famous in Beverly Hills and owning upscale shops in the Bow Valley, to create something unique.
“I am very lucky that I grew up in Holland and took schooling there, so I can show people unusual European influenced designs. When you take that influence with other’s ideas, it creates something new again. In 1988 I moved to Beverly Hills, California where I worked for two years. I didn’t get a green card so I moved to Canada in 1990 and opened a shop in Canmore, and a shop in the Banff Springs Hotel. However the Bow Valley took a big hit in tourism after September 11th, so I closed down the businesses and took a year off. I wanted to be in the city and thought that Calgary had a lot of opportunity; it has been changing over the last 10 to 15 years. There aren’t a lot of shops that do upscale, different looking arrangements. I love Calgary, I just hate the winters, but the opportunity to do something different is here.”
Freriksen can’t take all of the credit.
“Shamus has been in hairdressing for many years and worked with people on a close personal basis. His strength is dealing with the public and taking care of their needs. He is amazing with people, he can draw people in from the sidewalk and they will walk out with $150 in arrangements. Joanne has a huge financial background and is a fantastic lady. She will be out doing the PR work and getting more clients and handling the books.”
While Freriksen took a traditional path, McKinnon has undergone a unique route toward owning a flower shop.
“I was in the army for 13 years. During that time I did hairstyling during the day, it was two very different worlds. I got tired of the military life and wanted a civilian life, so I worked for Revenue Canada for awhile and tried a whole bunch of different things, and decided to do this when the opportunity came up. It’s pretty easy to please people with flowers compared to a haircut. If you screw up a haircut, you can’t just add blue and make it better - if they don’t like the flower arrangement you change it. It’s a lot quicker to meet them for personal satisfaction as well.”
Based on the phenomenal success in only seven months, things look bright for La Fleur. McKinnon is hoping to expand within the Art Central building to have more room and “an assembly line conveyer belt manned by Oompa Loompas” while Freriksen has a more realistic outlook.
“We have been approached by different people about opening other locations. At this moment I want to focus on the shop in the Art Central to get it off the ground, you can go too fast too soon. In the future I would like to open one or two more small locations. In Canmore the shop was 2000 square feet, and the rent for that and the Banff Springs location was very expensive. I would rather have a smaller space and work with a couple of people who are very talented.”
Keeping fresh in an artistic business can be a challenge. Freriksen continues to look abroad and locally for ideas to continue to give value and unique arrangements to La Fleur’s clientele.
“My Grandmother had a saying ‘The day you die is the day you stop learning.’ I truly believe that you learn every day and that people need to get their money’s worth for their flowers.”
La Fleur Floral Boutique
103 100 7th Ave
(403) 266-1708
www.LaFleurAtArtCentral.com
