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Maker Space: Eden Garrett's idea blossomed - NWAOnline

Northwest Arkansas."I love Northwest Arkansas," she says. "There are so many opportunities for growth here. And because I work out of a truck, I can go from Fayetteville to Rogers to Springdale to Bentonville and all of those towns in between -- so I catch more people than just being in the middle of Springfield."Garrett says part of the process of becoming a successful business person was learning how to be flexible when business was in a slow period."I'm just motivated every day to push forward and make the sales higher each day -- even if it's really slow, even if, that day, no one wants flowers," she says. "I'll think, 'OK, what else can I do? Can I do deliveries? Can I announce on social media that all bouquets are $5 or that delivery is free on this particular day?' Each day, I'm going to make as much money as I can and provide an excellent product."She's also available for parties and weddings; one popular option for celebrations are the custom flower crowns partygoers can make inside the truck.Garrett says she's wanted to own a business since she was a child. Her first business idea -- a boutique that would serve as both a makeup salon as well as an event space, so you could get ready for a party right there at the site -- came to her when she was just 10 years old."My mom owned her own business, and I was just super fascinated by it," she says. "I've always known I didn't want to have a 9-to-5 job where I sit behind a desk all day -- that's just not who I am. I've always wanted to own my own business."It's clear that her youth isn't holding her back. Eden's Flower Truck was recognized at the 2019 Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Business Awards Ceremony, and she's opening up her first brick and mortar store called Eden's Botanicals this month. She says opening a storefront was in her five-year plan but, when she found a perfect location on North Steele Boulevard, her business instincts told her it was the right time to make a move."The storefront will mostly be for workshops and parties -- more of an event space," says Garrett, who adds that the mobile truck will still be used for floral sales. "We'll also sell flower gifts [in the store]. I'm super excited."Garrett is already looking towards the future and making plans -- big plans."I want to own some land, hopefully around the Fayetteville area, and have a mini-Magnolia Market, similar to [Fixer Upper stars] Chip and Joanna Gaines' business," she says. "I want there to be a few cottages, like an Airbnb, and then also have a spot to grow my own flowers so I don't have to buy them wholesale any more. And I would sell gifts and flowers and other merchandise and have it all be in one giant property, a destination that people from all over come to."If what she's accomplished so far is any indication, the goals of her 10-year plan may just be closer than she thinks..inline_item { float: left; display: inline; }div class="inline__bloc... https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/feb/13/maker-space-eden-garrett-s-idea-blossom/

Business Spotlight: Blooming Business - Springfield Business Journal

Springfield. Eden’s Flower Truck, a similar business concept, launched in Springfield in 2018. Owner Eden Garrett earlier this year moved the business to Arkansas, where the flower truck serves the Bentonville and Rogers areas.Hartman says she’s starting to see the trend grow nationally.“Since we’ve started, I’ve seen more pop up across the country,” Hartman says. “I still get emails pretty frequently asking how to start a flower truck, and the whole concept is gaining momentum.”Kate Penn, CEO of the Society of American Florists, says retail floral sales have been growing – to the tune of $35 billion in 2017, a $2 billion increase from the year prior, according to a U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report on personal consumption expenditures.Penn says the mobile floral business is catching on, and she describes it as “experiential, interactive purchasing.”“There’s a lot of innovation and entrepreneurialism in the flower-buying space right now,” Penn says, noting floral sales have steadily increased during the last decade. “There is a big trend across retail right now, and the floral industry is no different. It’s the idea of trying to do something creative that makes what you’re purchasing interactive and memorable and fun.”The consumer appeal, she says, is being able to walk down the street, stop at a flower truck and purchase flowers by the stem, or create an individual bouquet. “It’s a super smart business model,” Penn says. ... https://sbj.net/stories/business-spotlight-blooming-business,66208?

Court again rules against florist who refused gay couple - The Spokesman-Review

She refused. Ferguson filed a complaint under the state’s consumer protection and anti-discrimination statutes, and the couple filed a separate lawsuit. A Benton County Superior Court judge combined the cases and reviewed the arguments, eventually issuing an injunction against Stutzman requested by Ferguson and awarding damages to the couple.The Washington Supreme Court upheld both decisions, and Stutzman appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But before it could be argued there, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to create a cake for a same-sex wedding, saying that during the process of deciding whether he was violating that state’s anti-discrimination laws, a member of the Civil Rights Commission made disparaging remarks about the baker’s religion.The U.S. Supreme Court sent the Arlene’s Flowers case back to the Washington Supreme Court to reconsider it in light of the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision. Attorneys for Stutzman argued the cases were the same, contending Ferguson was showing animus toward religion by taking action against Arlene’s Flowers but not against a Seattle coffee shop that refused to serve Christians. But McCloud wrote there is key distinction between the two cases because the Colorado case involved religious intolerance from an adjudicatory body. The only two such bodies – the trial court and the state Supreme Court – showed no such intolerance. The attorney general’s office isn’t an adjudicatory body and the coffee shop case is irrelevant, she wrote. The court also rejected Stutzman’s arguments that applying the state’s anti-discrimination laws to her refusal to provide floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding violates her constitutional rights. “Discrimination based on same sex-marriage constitutes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” McCloud wrote. Enforcing the anti-discrimination law in this case does not violate her rights of artistic expression because it doesn’t fit with previous cases that protect that right. Allowing such an exemption would create a two-tiered system system the law, similar to saying a dime-store lunch counter would have to serve an interracial couple but an upscale bistro wouldn’t, she wrote, quoting from a friend of the court brief.Stutzman can still freely practice her religion, McCloud wrote. She was never asked to attend the wedding ceremony. She has provided floral arrangements for weddings of Muslims and atheists, and wasn’t endorsing Islam or atheism by doing that.“After careful review on remand, we are confident that the courts resolved this dispute with tolerance, and we therefore find no reason to change our original judgment,” the court concluded. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/06/court-again-rules-against-florist-who-refused-gay-/

'The Fire Within': 9 years of honoring Great Falls women in business - Great Falls Tribune

I find it as an honor that they thought I stood out among the other nominees...to me a little surprising, but it's wonderful." She started at Riverview Floral in Fort Benton where her boss pointed out her eye for color. From there it was five years of delivering at Sally's Flowers, Electric City Conservatory for seven years and finally her own store in 2010. "She has hired staff with no floral experience and turned them into designers," Evans said. "Kari offers flower design classes throughout the year...as she shared her knowledge and skills with others," Evans said. Johnson said she has fun being a part of local events, but one of her biggest passions is being a part of weddings and teaching her flower classes. "I like to be able to help the brides and help them select what flowers they want to make them look beautiful," she said. "...the flower classes that I teach, those are always exciting, because I get to share my knowledge with the ladies." My Viola had outgrown its first building within four years and now resides at 716 Central Ave., where she said she's able to offer more classes and have more employees. In the future, Johnson sees herself and her employees continuing to serve the community by providing their flowers and services. "Still doing the fun events that we do like the Russell and the art auctions...," Johnson said. "I just hope I can continue doing what we do and expanding." As spring has shown its sun rays and prom season is here, Johnson said from now until Mother's Day is going to be full of flower galore. Susan Crocker of The Good Wood Guys Crocker is the 2019 Aspire Award recipient. She was nominated by business partner and husband, Chris Crocker who kept his nomination a secret. "I was shocked...I had no idea," she said. "It was pretty humbling. There's a lot of pretty amazing people in Great Falls, Montana, and so to know people thought I was doing something awesome felt really good." The Good Wood Guys live by their words as "born ra... https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/04/01/the-fire-within-9-years-honoring-great-falls-women-business/3314905002/

Caught on camera: Man burglarizes east Tulsa florist with toddler in tow - KTUL

What the gentleman took was of no real value, just some tools we've accumulated over the last 30 years," said Trey Benton, the owner of Greenleaf Wholesale.Benton's business is the one that was hit. His concern, and every one of the employees that we spoke to, was for that little girl."As a father, seeing how he treated a child that he would even bring along with him during this incident," he said.The girl dutifully follows him around, and several times reaches for him, but the man almost sees right through her."It just broke my heart seeing how many times that girl reached up to her daddy, I'm assuming. It was really troubling," said Benton.Finally, as the two walk off into a grassy field, the man acknowledges the little girl, picking her up and carrying her away.Anyone with information is asked to call Tulsa Crime Stoppers. http://ktul.com/news/local/man-robs-east-tulsa-florist-with-toddler-in-tow

Master florist to the stars opens store beneath Jim Bowie Live Oak in Opelousas - The Advocate

They also stock items created by local and regional artists and artisans like handmade stationery and soaps. Already planned for the next few months are workshops and pop-up shops featuring Louisiana artists teaching about stationery, succulents, sushi and glass creation. The workshops and pop-ups will be held in the shop's courtyard beneath the historic Jim Bowie oak. The event schedule should soon be up on their website mossneworleans.com, Mashburn said."Before we opened, people were asking what we were going to do with the oak. They were worried we'd do something with the oak, but I love it. We've only been here a short time, but I feel like it's a neighbor and an old friend," Mashburn said. https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/business/article_054285ce-49ac-11ea-bcd6-43494a29a1c0.html

HER | Local decorator helps get homes ready for holidays - Texarkana Gazette

When I go down there I also go deep-sea fishing for Red Snapper, so it's an annual vacation for me."When she isn't decorating for others, she and her husband Jerry reside on the Louisiana side of Caddo Lake where they enjoy entertaining. They are also very active at Trees Baptist Church. They have four children: Tony Campbell of Queen City, Dee Dee Wells and Misty Lutton of Atlanta, and Damon Donnell of Athens, Texas.Marie says she has never gotten too busy to take on more clients."I never turn anyone down," she said. "I just hire more people to do the work. We will do what it takes to make people happy." n... https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/her/story/2019/dec/03/her-local-decorator-helps-get-homes-ready-holidays/806564/

A funeral director for the community - Dallas Voice

Lewis said they ate dinner, watched a movie but he left, and they didn’t see each other for another four years.LaFleur was diagnosed with cancer and then he left for Louisiana to take care of his mother. When he returned to Dallas, they met up again on MySpace and have been together ever since.A few years ago, Lewis, who’s a member of the Turtle Creek Chorale, was talking to another member, who is also a funeral director, about how hard it was working for a funeral home owned by a large corporation.“I still want my own place,” he said.“I know a place in Ferris for sale,” the other member told him.A year passed before he decided to at least check out Ferris. The funeral home was still for sale, so on a Sunday morning, he drove to Ferris just to take a look even though he knew the place wouldn’t be open.As he was driving through town, though, he noticed signs for an open house. He decided to stop in and maybe get a feel for the town from the real estate agent.She asked what he was looking for in a house, and he said he was actually interested in Green Funeral Home that was for sale but stopped by the open house to get some information about Ferris from someone local. The agent told him her father owned the funeral home, and she called her dad and arranged for Lewis to meet him.Six months later, Lewis and LaFleur were in the funeral business.Their goal, LaFleur said, is to outgrow the current building within five years. “That means we have four years left,” Lewis said.While Ferris is growing quickly — 150 homes are already under construction on the west side of I-45, and T. Boone Pickens’ widow owns a ranch on the east side of the highway that she plans to develop — the couple knows they can’t rely on business just from the Ferris area.So, Lewis said, anyone was welcome to come to Ferris and use their facility, and they can handle a funeral anywhere. Not that Ferris is that far from the Metroplex — from downtown Dallas, it’s about the same distance as Plano. It’s just over the Ellis County line, four miles south of the Belt Line Road exit.Green Funeral Home can handle embalming, whether the family is using his facility or not. He can deliver the casket to any church for a funeral service, and if the family chooses cremation, Lewis said he can do that, too.Lewis said they’ve driven as far as Houston to pick up a body, so they can certainly perform a funeral anywhere in the Dallas area.While the current Green Funeral Home building is a few blocks from the town square and can hold about 120 for a service, Lewis said they also hold services in area churches all the time.The Rev. Neil Thomas, senior pastor at Cathedral of Hope, said he was glad to have the services of a gay funeral director available in the area. https://dallasvoice.com/a-funeral-director-for-the-community/

Most Louisiana horticulture license exams now computer based - WBRZ

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain says most Louisiana horticulture license exams are now given by computer, streamlining the process.  He says it used to take a week or more to get scores for tests taken at department satellite offices, because forms were sent to Baton Rouge for grading.  Strain says applicants must still be tested at department offices, but the results are available immediately.  A news release Friday said six of the seven professional horticulture exams are now on computer, and the landscape architecture exam is in final development and testing. Those on computer are landscape horticulturist, landscape irrigation contractor, arborist, utility arborist, retail florist and wholesale florist.  Department spokeswoman Laura Pursnell-Lindsay says tests aren't required for nursery certificates and permits for dealers in cut flowers and nursery stock. https://www.wbrz.com/news/most-louisiana-horticulture-license-exams-now-computer-based/