Lindsay Irwin of Bitterroot Flower Shop in Missoula, Montana.
The Society of American Florists’ membership includes all segments of the industry — and that community is the heart of SAF. This bi-weekly feature spotlights SAF members sharing inspirational stories, professional insights, and the opportunity to form new industry connections.
Whenever Lindsay Irwin was asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, the answer was always “an artist.” For the past 15 years she and her family have owned Bitterroot Flower Shop in Missoula, Montana where she gets to fulfill that dream.
“I find it so interesting that I am an artist, but through a medium of flowers — a profession that I didn’t even know existed earlier in my life,” she says.
During high school and college, Irwin worked in landscaping and at plant nurseries, where she particularly enjoyed working on displays and mixed container gardens. After college, she taught for a year but missed creating things with her hands. When Irwin and her husband moved to Montana so he could continue his education, she got a customer service job at the flower shop she now owns. Over time her job evolved into design apprenticing, and she started taking classes through the Floral Design Institute.
Best Business Advice
One piece of advice Irwin keeps top of mind is to work smarter, not harder. “This runs through my head almost every time I am faced with a difficult situation,” she says.
Another guiding principle is that bigger is not necessarily better. “More orders, more deliveries, more sales is not always better if the rest of the puzzle is not in sync,” Irwin says. “More and bigger does not mean more profit. I have found that a business that is streamlined and has boundaries is more successful both financially and personally.”
Favorite Sales Tactic
Irwin has found success incorporating gift cards from local businesses into the shop’s arrangements or as add ons. For instance, some of the arrangements feature gift cards purchased at a discount to the local ice cream shop, movie theater, coffee shop and brewery.
“This practice creates a really unique gift for our customers, it adds longevity to the flowers as a gift, and helps cross market for us and the other business,” Irwin says.
What’s Trending
The house plant department at Bitterroot is flourishing. Irwin recently re-evaluated the shop’s merchandise in order to expand the plant department and offer more sizes and varieties.
“Having more green and blooming plants in the shop makes the whole shop more inviting,” Irwin says. “The employees as well as the customers are enjoying feeling surrounded by living things instead of the impersonal gift merchandise we once filled our retail space with.”
Why SAF?
Irwin originally joined SAF to gain access to education and resources about owning and operating a flower shop. She’s found much more than just education and resources, though, saying she’s also enjoyed getting to know “the floral community we have gained through SAF.”
“Knowing that there is a group of florists out there in the world going through the same challenges and successes that we go through gives me peace of mind and a sense of security,” she says.
Irwin was 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.
