Meet Rosie and Joshua Orblom of Banister’s Flowers in Englewood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosie and Joshua Orblom.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Our mom (Maureen Orblom) decided to buy a flower shop completely out of the blue in her 50’s with no experience of being a florist or of owning a business in 1994. She and our father (Larry Orblom, who kept his job as a high school administrator) put in extremely long hours and hard work to make the business work. Turned out our mom was extremely talented at flower design and between that and her innate kindness made the business a success. Josh and I helped our parents out growing up, learning the business over time and eventually we decided to buy the business in 2015. I have a love of flowers and designing and Josh enjoys doing the business end, so together we make a great team.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Haha! Oh so many struggles. Flower shops are very difficult because there is so much room for error. Between dealing with fresh products, high and low temperatures while delivering, also it is a very unpredictable business. Somedays you can have three orders and others 30 with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. The majority of our orders come in the day before or day of which makes it so hard to plan. Certain things like funerals, short hospital visits and people forgetting important dates make it change on a dime. Also, the holidays are complete chaos. The first few Valentine’s Days after our folks bought the shop almost broke us as a family… seriously. We would be up all night, sleep a couple of hours and start again the next day. We had never experienced anything as stressful! Luckily, the years of experience and mistakes have made it easier and Josh and I try really hard to balance the shop with our family lives. I could write a book on the struggles we have had to overcome to make this business work… wedding mishaps, juggling other life stresses with running a business, coolers breaking, etc.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Banister’s Flowers – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We specialize in unique, fresh, seasonal flowers for everyday arrangements. We always carry unusual seasonal flowers that we ship in from all over the world (Holland, New Zealand, South Africa, Ecuador, etc.) while also focusing on local products from farms right in Denver and surrounding areas during the Summer. We are also known for the orchid plants we carry, they are grown in Colorado and are the best! We are known for the quality of our flowers, the unique and seasonal assortment, and the artistic design in everything we send out. We are also known for our customer service. Josh and I both strive to treat everyone we encounter with kindness and compassion. Our business is a sensitive one because we go through every occasion from birth to death with our customers and it is very important to us that we make people feel comfortable. We are most proud of the way we run the business.

We try very hard to treat people right, put out a beautiful product, and fix things if we mess up. In order to put out the quality of arrangements we have had to make some changes. We no longer do weddings or large events. Also, we shortened our hours: Mon.-Fri. 9-3 and closed on weekends. This gives us more time with our families while also maintaining a business that keeps its quality as high as possible. We are set apart by others because of our personal touch. We truly are a small family business. Josh and I answer most of the phones and know the majority of our customers on a personal basis. A lot of our customers have been with us for 25 years! I do most of the designing, so can keep a close eye on what goes out the door. We are also set apart because of our passion for flowers. As a kid, I was always getting in trouble for picking flowers and that has stayed with me my entire life. I get excited with every shipment we receive and love talking flowers with our customers.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
In the future we hope to maintain growing the business while still keeping it personal. We hope to do some traveling (after our little ones get a little older) to continue to find new and exciting flower sources. Beyond that, we just want to continue to learn and grow with this business. Flower trends are constantly changing and we try to stay current with what is trending while also being able to accommodate our customer’s unique styles.

Pricing:

• Our arrangements can range from $50-500+.
• Delivery can be anywhere from $10-30.

Contact Info:

• Address: 4495 S. Broadway
  Englewood, CO 80113
• Website: www.banistersflowers.com
• Phone: (303)781-8330
• Email: info@banistersflowers.com
• Instagram: banistersflowers

Image Credit:
Rosie’s daughter, Birdie. Spring Floral Arrangement

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