Before the COVID-19 pandemic, May Flowers, a two-year-old floral business, followed a conventional approach common to many in the industry. It primarily focused on wedding and special occasion bouquets, with its Toronto-based shop serving as a fulfillment center for orders.
However, in the wake of the pandemic, after the bustling Mother’s Day season, Annie Tran-Shuttin, the owner and creative director, decided it was time for a transformation. Tran-Shuttin, who had studied business and psychology and self-taught floral artistry through YouTube videos, envisioned a modern, welcoming space for May Flowers. Her idea was to create an environment where customers could shop for plants, flowers, and a thoughtfully curated selection of gift items like chocolates, bath products, and candles while sipping a cappuccino from the in-house café.
May Flowers operates with a distinctive business model that avoids the use of wire services like Teleflora, opting instead for direct customer interaction in real-time. This approach enables them to offer same-day delivery, with all floral designs created in-house as soon as the order is placed.
Tran-Shuttin invested $10,000 from her personal savings to fund the renovation. “We bootstrapped everything,” she explains. Friends assisted with painting walls and installing new fixtures, and her husband, who works in construction, contributed by installing new shelves and updating plumbing.
Hailing from an entrepreneurial family, Tran-Shuttin received valuable guidance and support, but she also encountered challenges along the way, such as learning about payroll compliance and budgeting in the business world.
Reopened in July, the shop now features an array of fresh flowers and dried bouquets, along with color-coordinated shelves showcasing glass and ceramic vases. Customers are encouraged to return these vases in exchange for a gift card, a component of the shop’s “ReVase” program designed to make the floral industry more sustainable. Additionally, May Flowers sources its products from local and fair-trade growers and allocates a portion of its revenue to carbon-removal and reforestation organizations to offset emissions from deliveries.
Apart from the physical transformation, May Flowers introduced a new service: flower-and-alcohol delivery, allowing customers to pair wine, champagne, or soju with a hand-tied bouquet. Tran-Shuttin notes, “From a business perspective, we felt diversifying was important. If Covid taught us anything, it’s that we need to keep growing.”
May Flowers’ commitment to sustainability, direct customer engagement, and innovative services exemplifies a forward-thinking approach in the floral industry.
