Jason and Mary Bigham are launching Penny + Clover, a floral vending company in the Detroit, Michigan metro area.
The Society of American Florists’ membership includes all segments of the industry — and that community is the heart of SAF. This bi-weekly feature will spotlight SAF members sharing inspirational stories, professional insights, and the opportunity to form new industry connections.
For as long as she can remember, Mary Bigham wanted to create and make beautiful things but her journey to starting Penny + Clover, which will be selling flowers exclusively through vending machines, wasn’t a natural one. Her journey originated in unhappiness with her teaching job, a cancer diagnosis, and a desire for the beauty of blooms to be entwined into every day. Her husband, Jason Bigham, helped take her dream and turn it into a reality. While researching what it would take to open a brick-and-mortar plant and flower shop, he came across the BloomHouse vending idea. The couple decided that rather than worry about getting customers into a flower shop, they would place flowers in high-traffic areas using the vending machines.
Biggest Challenge
The couple’s biggest challenge is that they both come from outside the floral industry (Jason worked in IT), so they’ve had to learn about the industry and how to operate a floral business. Industry veterans such as Tim Huckabee of Floral Strategies and Alex Frost of HyperVend, which developed the floral vending machine, have been instrumental in coaching them as they prepare for launch, they say.
Other challenges were COVID-19 related delays and supply chain issues, which have delayed their launch by at least six months.
“The bright side is delays have allowed us to continue preparing and fine tuning our model while we wait,” Jason says.
Best Part of Getting into the Floral Industry
Jason, who has started several IT companies, says he has enjoyed being an entrepreneur in the floral industry “doing something new and creating an experience that nobody has really done before. We have big plans for a beautiful future, and you may be surprised where you see us!”
Best Business Advice
The Bighams’ best business advice has been to “be patient, keep your head down and follow your dream.”
What’s Next for Penny + Clover?
The company hopes to officially launch by September with five automated vending machines in high traffic locations throughout Detroit, Michigan. They hope to place 15 more vending machines by the end of 2023. They say their hope is to be the only on-demand flower company that can deliver across the Detroit area in 2 hours, 7 days a week.
They also have plans to integrate their software with partners that can make it easier for flowers to be purchased directly from their machines or online store, Jason says.
Why SAF?
The Bighams recently joined SAF so that they can “stay in touch with the industry and build relationships with other members to grow and modernize for the next generation of flower companies.”
They were recently featured on SAF’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Do you know a member who should have a chance in the spotlight? Email Stephanie Brady, project manager for SAF.
Stephanie Brady is the project manager for the Society of American Florists.
