Many flower shops are struggling to keep up against big box retailers like Kroger that have greater buying power, Duffy said. The first time that really started to noticeably affect her store’s bottom line was in 2019, she said.
“They’ve always had flowers for sale, but now they’re starting to do arrangements, and some of them are doing deliveries, so they’re becoming more and more like a brick-and-mortar retail florist,” she said. “Some of the pricing is so much lower than what we can purchase it for from our wholesalers.”
Church’s Flowers founders Nellie and Dick Church Sr. opened the business in 1946. When they retired in 1972, sons Jim and Dick Church Jr. took over. The brothers sold the flower shop to the Bill and Sharon Phillips in 1985.
Duffy purchased the store in 2010.
Church’s Flowers has been for sale for nine months, but has generated little interest, she said.
“We decided that if we didn’t have a good lead by the end of the year, we would have to go ahead and close it,” Duffy said.
She said she appreciates the shop’s customers, who have been “very loyal” to the business over the years.
“It’s been a tough, tough decision and I was really hoping for a seamless transition to a new generation, but it just doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen,’ Duffy said.
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