Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel O’Neil.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Just by this simple question I am flooded by SO many memories and life experiences that have helped pave the way with “my story”. But, the answer is simple, flowers have always been a constant in my life. As a child I can remember planting with my Mom in the spring, she would also set up easels with canvas’ in the front yard and we would paint the flowers we had watched grow. In the summer I would help my Papa water his vegetable garden and I distinctly remember how proud I was that I could help something grow.
When I was just 14, my Dad decided it was time for me to get an after-school job and he marched me down to the local greenhouse in town (Eric’s Greenhouse) and asked the owner if he needed any seasonal help. Eric’s was a well-known garden center and full-service florist (the only florist in my home town). Without even a 5min interview I was hired on the spot and asked to start the next day, it was April 1999. If you had told that 14-year-old girl that she was on the path to one day open up her own flower shoppe and buy the name “Eric’s” in about 14 years I’m actually not sure if she would think you’re crazy, because I even think then she knew someday she would be her own boss.
I stayed at Eric’s Greenhouse through high school and college, started as a cashier moved up to manage the annual plant department and then decided that floral design was the direction my heart wanted to be in. This led me to take on a few floral design courses through the north shore community college where I was also studying small business management.
I left Eric’s in 2006 and worked for a couple of different flower shops until 2012, one closer to the city and another on the north shore. I had no idea then that leaving Eric’s and venturing out to other shops would be so beneficial in opening my own shop. While working for both these shops I learned how I wanted to run a business and how NOT to run a business.
I learned that the owner wanted to sell the land that Eric’s Greenhouse was on and get out of the retail garden center world. I wondered, I don’t want a greenhouse, but I do want a flower shop in my home town and the name “Eric’s” had been a well-known name for over 50 years. Is this really coming full circle?
I bought the name and phone number from my former boss and moved the florist from Main Street to down town Reading, MA in February 2013 – opening 10 days shy of Valentine’s Day. We are in our 6th year and I still pinch myself that I get to live my dream and be my own boss.
Has it been a smooth road?
Looking back on the past five years, I feel very fortunate that the struggles that did arise where not ones that where anything major or one’s that I couldn’t come up with a solution for. What someone might see as a major struggle verses a minor one is all relative and keeping a positive attitude is key when pushing through the grind of building a business. I still struggle with the balance of work and home life, like leaving the shoppe at a decent hour to spend time with my husband and puppy. Or the times I’ll make dinner plans on a Tuesday night with my mom and then must call to cancel because we get in a crazy amount of orders that need to be done for the next day. Things like this didn’t bother me the first few years, because I felt the need to design every arrangement that left my shoppe, to grow my business in the style and quality I wanted for my shoppe. Now that we are into our 6th year and becoming busier and busier I am okay with letting go a little bit and trusting the designers I have hired to design beautiful work that says it’s from “the flower shoppe”. I have part time and freelance designers that are simply the best! We doubled the amount of event and weddings from 2013 to 2014 and expanded the shoppe to the open space directly next door. I shared the space with Antea Amoroso (Antea Amoroso Design – she does hand lettering and signage rentals and is my favorite boss babe). Brides loved that they could come to one creative space and work with both of us to pretty much style their entire wedding and execute their vison. Doubling the space and the number of booked events led me to realize that I was not just running one business but two, and both were demanding of my time. This is still an ongoing struggle, and my plan is to hopefully find the right help and designers to pretty much run the “Flower Shoppe” side with daily and walk in orders as I focus on the events on our “wedding shoppe” side. Still overseeing both but knowing that the hands on designing and customer service is being done to our standards. I have been working towards this goal for a few years – fingers crossed we find the right fit soon!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a “full service” florist. We design orders for pick up or delivery for any occasion, from birthdays to sympathy flowers and everything in between. We hand pick fresh flowers from the market every morning to use in our designs and strive to live by our tag line of “artfully designed. Creative and fresh.” Our design style is known for its blend of gardeny green textures with a mix of modern florals. We have a website that our customers can order online with ease that showcases our custom designs and is updated seasonally with new and unique designs. This allows us to design what we know is available during any season and ensure that we are using the types of flowers we love to work with. We have two sides of our shoppe – the flower shoppe and the wedding shoppe. The flower shoppe is where all our daily orders are designed and where walk in customers are can browse for loose flowers, plants and décor. The Wedding shoppe is our creative space that allows us to meet with couples, show samples to brides of centerpieces for their upcoming wedding and is where the designing of a wedding takes place. Allowing me to close off the doors to the flower shoppe and really focus on my event without distraction. Local wedding photographer Katie Hammond of Sweet Lady Jane Photography shares this space with us and meets with clients in her super cute office and my talented mom (clearly where I inherited any creative genes – thanks MOM) also displays her unique hand painted cake toppers for couples to custom order. Antea and I opened this space together a few years back. Just this year she has moved her business to her garage turned amazing studio, we still work hand in hand with a ton of brides for flowers and décor and display some of her past work in the shoppe as well. I want my brides to feel like this space is for them and they can come to talk about flowers but maybe walk away with more. To have other “friendors” displayed in this space and be able to give a referral to a bride on someone we know and have worked with before feels good. I know I appreciate it when someone refers me!
What role has luck (good luck of bad luck) played in your life and business?
I’m not sure how much I believe in someone being “lucky” or not. Call it destiny, fate, being in the right place in the right time, or just working super hard and not giving up on a dream. I can’t deny that there have been some amazing stepping stones that lined up just right for me to get here.
I met Antea Amoroso (Antea Amoroso Designs) who also worked at the greenhouse while we were both in high school. She is one of my best friends and has a super busy signage/décor wedding business. She helped me in the flower shoppe when we had just opened and then together we took the leap of faith to expand and open the wedding shoppe. I never thought back in high school that we would still be as close as we are now and working in the wedding field together, it’s been great!
I also met my mother in law, Cheri O’Neil at the greenhouse. We worked together for over 7 years before her son and I started to date! She now works for me full time and is seriously what keeps this shoppe running on a day to day basis. She was instrumental in getting the shoppe up and running – she was the familiar voice on the phone when we moved and made past customers feel confident that even though the business had a new location, they would still have the same great customer service she had provided.
After finding a space (actually, Antea found the rental listed online, on a site I would have never known about!) My Husband, with the help of his dad and my dad, were able to completely renovate the inside just under a month for me to be up and running by Valentine’s Day. The fact that he is a contractor was and IS pretty lucky! My mom stayed up until 2 in the morning making these paper hearts I had seen on Pinterest (we still hang them every Valentine’s Day, and no they aren’t for sale). The day before we opened, my entire family spent the whole day and night getting the shoppe set up. It was a dream. I am SO lucky and blessed to have the ongoing support they give to me.
There are so many more moments when things just clicked, but I can’t go on forever…
Pricing:
- Our customers on average spend around $65 – $75 for an arrangement, but they start at $40 for delivery or pick up orders
- Wedding and Events: the price range varies based on each clients needs and we offer a free consultation to begin the planning process
Contact Info:
- Address: 8 – 10 Brande Court
Reading, MA 01867 - Website: theflowershoppeoferics.com racheloneilevent.com
- Phone: 781-944-0547
- Email: Hello@racheloneilevent.com
- Instagram: @theflowershoppechicks
- Facebook: The Flower Shoppe of Eric’s
Image Credit:
Katie Hammond of Sweet Lady Jane Photography
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