This November, Gardenia of London celebrates its 20th birthday. Jamie Grant, Owner & Founder of Gardenia, writes a special for piece for LadyWimbledon.com about his life as a florist.
One of my favourite pieces of Gardenia’s marketing from the past couple of years is a simple square surrounding the phrase ‘No rain, no flowers.’ We’ve used it all over the place – in shops, on uniforms, across the side of delivery vans. To me, it’s a succinct summing-up of life in general… and particularly of life as a florist.
This November, Gardenia of London celebrates its 20th birthday. By any standards, that’s quite an achievement – but even more so in an era that sees high street retailers and household name brands sinking on a regular basis.
Gardenia continues to weather the storm. That metaphorical rain has come down in torrents at times, as I am sure it must do for every small business; so much so that we have been close to shutting the doors for good on a handful of occasions.
But here’s the thing: the sun always, always, comes out again.
Over the past two decades I have learned that sunshine comes in many forms. It comes in the form of friends and family who pick up the slack when my focus is on the business; in the form of my awe-inspiring staff who never fail to step up when the moment demands; in the form of the first daffodils of spring and a pavement bucket full of peonies.
But most of all, sunshine comes from you – our customers. Without you and your particular brand of sunshine, Gardenia wouldn’t flourish.
Yes, flowers need rain. But they also need sunshine. Thank you for giving us that. With it, we promise to carry on brightening up life for as long as you’ll have us.
Contributor: Gardenia of London | Jamie Grant, Owner & Founder
Gardenia of London is an independent, family-run florist business with three high street shops in South West London and an online ordering service. They have been setting out their pavement buckets since 1999.
Website: gardeniaoflondon.co.uk
Facebook: @GardeniaofLondon
Instagram: @GardeniaofLondon
Twitter: @GardeniaLondon
