Two defeats, a world war, and a global epidemic – the Ottawa Turner flowers have all been there. The Turner family has served the Ottawa community in one way or another for 85 years, and they have no plans to go anywhere soon.
It all started in 1936 when Ralph Turner started a greenhouse on a suburban farm. Forty years later, his son, Lille, decided to expand that greenhouse to half a hectare and used it to grow flowers for the newly opened flower shop on 8th and Hikri. “When I was a kid, I used to have a family wedding,” says Lil’s son Shawn. Lille finally closed the store in the 1980s, but continued to grow and sell flowers, fruits, and vegetables grown in the garden. Shawn recalls helping his parents load their car with flowers and fresh produce to sell at the farmer’s market each week. “I knew it was hard work, but it was just like my blood,” he said. In high school, he joined future American farmers, or FFNs, and began studying agriculture and horticulture at Kansas State University. While studying in Manhattan, Shawn returned to Ottawa every weekend to help his parents in the store. During Shaun’s second year, his father decided to open a shop in Addis Ababa, this time on the main street. On August 15, 2006, Turner bought flowers from a former florist in his previous store. Shawn College got a job teaching job, but he called Lil about two years later and asked him? Be willing to return to the store. Shaw said yes without hesitation. He is, in fact, in his blood.
A.D. Since its opening in August 2006, Turner Flowers has tripled its sales. The turners provide flower arrangements for about 100 weddings and 250 funerals each year. “We have grown a lot. A.D. When we started in 2006, it was a real mom and pop shop. ” We have now built and developed a team of 12 part-time and three full-time employees, so it has grown a lot. Starting a new business in the middle of the year was not an easy task, but Shaun praised the location of the store downtown during the 2008 recession. “We love the city center. It is amazing how many ordinary consumers come in and out of the city. ”
Most recently, when the supply of flowers was declining in March 2020 and Turner was closed for five weeks, the COVID-19 outbreak presented a challenge to the store. But when the store opened on Mother’s Day, things began to look up. Flower supplies began to return, and epidemic-era business practices, such as epidemics, were well-known to Turner’s workers. Before making a joke, Shaw joked: “We were making non-contact offers.” Seriously, however, he pointed out the importance of the business to many people in such a difficult time. “If people could not go to the hospital, or go to the nursing home, or if they could not bring her mother out for dinner, they would send flowers,” he said. Despite the decline in wedding orders by 2020, Turner was able to stay afloat by 2020 because the flowers he sold were one of the few ways people could express themselves to their loved ones.
Ever since Ralph started building the greenhouse in 1936, the Turner family has come a long way. Lil is now partially retired, but spends most of his time on his father’s 80-hectare farm, caring for the greenhouse, raising successors, and raising chickens. His wife, Kathy, still works in the store, and so does Shawn. The store celebrated its 15th anniversary on the main street last Sunday, but customers can celebrate with them every day for a reasonably special special day – Thursday is Thinking of You, with $ 15 Flower Arrangements, Friday Shop has $ 15 Packed Flowers, and Saturday All Substitutes will be reduced by 15 percent. Small bouquets of flowers cost about five dollars a week.
When asked what the next 85 years would bring, they were not sure how Shaw would respond. He wants to expand, but he has done a lot of work to grow every inch of the 135-year-old building he now owns. But when it comes to career, that’s off the cards. “I definitely have to be there,” he said. And for the family, helping other families celebrate the moments of life is the only job they want. Being a Florist is about engaging with people’s most recent memories – from the highest to the lowest. We will be part of those families, and it will be wonderful to be a part of their lives at that close.