Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
A weekly show from the folks at East Lansing Info breaking down all the news and happenings in East Lansing, Michigan.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of East Lansing Insider. I'm East Lansing Info's deputy editor, Anna Liz Nichols. And this week, we're talking to Sarah Soltys, owner of Blooming Artistry Florist. Whether you're a local to East Lansing or visiting for game day, you've probably passed by BA Florist at the corner of Hagadorn in Grand River. It's fairly unmissable coming into town with a big green sign.
Anna Liz Nichols:Now blooming artistry has been in the area since 1979, taking up that corner spot in East Lansing in 1984. And now across five decades, nearly five decades, Blooming Artistry has been providing plants and floral arrangements for an array of life's moments. So thank you, Sarah, for joining me here today. I know you took over the business in 2023. I was hoping you could share a bit about the legacy of Blooming Artistry and what business looks like in East Lansing now.
Sarah Soltis:Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Of course. Yeah.
Sarah Soltis:So, yeah, I'm I'm new to BA, but not new to the business. Personally, I've I've been in floral since I was 16, which is in the, you know, nineteen hundreds. So it's been a while. But, yeah, BA is is an institution. Institution.
Sarah Soltis:It it is amazing. It was started by Barbara Ann, which is where BA comes from, and she started it because she loved plants. And so in 1979, she opened a small little plant shop in Okemos, and it really grew from there. When they added fresh flowers, that was it. It took off.
Sarah Soltis:And so she owned the business. It's it's a legacy of of women in business. So she started it. Her daughter ran it from there, from her, and then I purchased it from her. So, you know, three women have have owned it.
Sarah Soltis:So, yeah, started with BA and then Laura Van Ark and then me. And so I'm not in their family, but it is still a family business. So so I think that's pretty awesome. We, you know, have all of us have been doing this for for a long time. It's our passion.
Sarah Soltis:It's it's what we love to do. And so bringing that to the community is just makes every day amazing. It's always something new. It's always something different. You get to meet so many people.
Sarah Soltis:You know, we were talking earlier about, you know, different organizations that we help and that we work with. And and, you know, I know we're close to campus, so, of course, MSU is on our list. But all things in the community from we were talking about small talk or we were, you know, we work with, you know, businesses right across the street. RJ's is a great restaurant just across the street. You know, we do stuff for them and just you know, I think business is more leaning towards small businesses and communities relying on each other.
Sarah Soltis:So, you you know, being there for them and them being there for us is is how it how it works, how it goes, and I like it that way.
Anna Liz Nichols:Yeah. In terms of what's happening in East Lansing for listeners, we've had small talk on before to talk about, you know, awareness for for child abuse, and they're having their annual gala coming up. And, I've attended it before, so I know that they partner with many of the local businesses around here. Kind of in that vein, I wanted to ask you, when we cover downtown development authority and and just listen to business owners in the area, sometimes they cite, you know, difficulty when the students are are away or talk about other challenges they've faced being being a business in East Lansing. I was wondering in terms of this business has been going on for decades.
Anna Liz Nichols:What has really sustained, BA to this to this day?
Sarah Soltis:I I do think it is the students. We are a college town, you know, whether we want to admit it or not. That's that's really where the business comes from. I mean, if you look at the summer, things are always slower in the summer for for flower shops notoriously wherever you go just because there's not really a holiday, a floral holiday in the summer. But but given East Lansing, I mean, that's thousands of less people.
Sarah Soltis:That's, you know, thousands. And that's that's a lot of people. And those people celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and date and, you know, do all the things that they need flowers for. And when they're not here, yeah, it's definitely a challenge. But it's something that we we plan for, you know, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, those are our big ones.
Sarah Soltis:And they happen while while, you know, students are still around. And Valentine's Day especially because, you know, half of our business, their mothers aren't necessarily here for Mother's Day. So, but they do have a boyfriend or a girlfriend for Valentine's Day, so that's usually a big holiday for us. And we know that going in, and we know that that's gonna sustain us for the rest of the, you know, really the rest of the year. So, we do a lot of prep for that, and, you know, February is a big month.
Sarah Soltis:So
Anna Liz Nichols:Yeah. Are there any life moments that you guys have been able to be a part of that particularly stand out to you?
Sarah Soltis:I didn't own the business, at the time, but the amount of and I hate maybe I shouldn't even bring up something something bad, but the event that happened at MSU the night before Valentine's Day
Anna Liz Nichols:Yes.
Sarah Soltis:Three years ago. That event, that that tragic event brought this community together in a way that I knew I was in the right place because there was so much support and so much love and so much togetherness that, you know, if if anything does happen to anyone around here, you know, we stand together. And I think that that is I might even tear up a little bit. Like, that's just something that I'm like, okay. This is the right place for me to be.
Sarah Soltis:I know that that was a a terrible situation. It it was you know, I wish we could all come together like that every day, but not for that reason, if that, makes sense. So that definitely stands out as as just a huge event, of course, before before I, you know, purchased the business. But since then, there's been all kinds of things, you know, that have happened. Large events at MSU, parties.
Sarah Soltis:You know, we've done really cool things with other maybe religious organizations that I'm not familiar with, but we've done big parties for them. And it's like it's so cool to to open that up and see a different way of of life. I don't know. A different way of doing things that is is so awesome that I can still be a part of and still make wonderful for a community, you know, that I love.
Anna Liz Nichols:I'm realizing that you might be in a unique position to be so aware of what's going on in the community by virtue of anytime someone needs flowers. You you would be privy to so and so's fiftieth wedding anniversary, but also, like, the the celebrations of various student organizations or cultural organizations in the area. That's kind of interesting.
Sarah Soltis:Yeah. It really is. I mean, just the amount of stuff. That's why every day is so different because you don't, you know, really take into consideration if you just look at your life, you know, and the things that happen in your life and how often you need flowers, that's that's a lot. It's it's, you know, it's it's every couple months maybe.
Sarah Soltis:But if you add that across all the spectrums of all the different religions and different celebrations and different people celebrating their life, you really become a part of it all, and that is so wonderful. I mean, that's that's a gift that you don't get in in most careers. And so, you know, from being there to celebrate with people, you know, we've I've even just just in this three years, I've done someone's wedding and then sent them flowers for the birth of their child. Like, it's you just you get it you become part of people's lives, and you you get brought in, and you become kind of family to them. You know what's going on.
Sarah Soltis:You know? Oh, you know, how's your mom? Oh, oh my gosh. You know, you had your son a few months ago. Like, how's he doing?
Sarah Soltis:Like, you know, all that stuff. And so it's it's very cool. It's it's a cool thing to come to work every day.
Anna Liz Nichols:Yeah. So like you said, you took on this this legacy business from historically female family ownership.
Sarah Soltis:Yeah.
Anna Liz Nichols:You know, how have things maybe changed since this business' inception back in the back in the seventies, moved to East Lansing in the eighties? But how have how have things evolved? What does, honestly, even, like, the floristry industry look like now for you in in in East Lansing?
Sarah Soltis:Oh, yeah. It's it's definitely changed for sure. I mean, just from the standpoint of, you know, plants and flowers and things, I think it's kind of interesting how COVID switched the plants back on people's radar. I think being home so much, people are like, you know what? I want this space to be my home, my sanctuary, my place to be.
Sarah Soltis:And so it's it's really interesting that, you know, BA started with her love of plants, and that's not really what got her business taking off. It was the flowers. And then I think when COVID happened, it really put plants back on people's radar. And I think she if she she she comes in from and visits every now and then, but I think if she was still in the business, she would be so happy to see how many more plants people are interested in now. And we have a really awesome employee, Pam, who just knows everything about plants, like, way more than I do.
Sarah Soltis:Like, she's she's awesome. And so, you know, students come in and decorate their dorms with them and and all that stuff. And I don't think that that was something that happened as much before that. So I think that that's pretty cool to kind of bring her vision back into the business. But I think flowers are becoming more of, like, a self care.
Sarah Soltis:Like, don't wait for someone else to do it for you. Like, take care of, you know, take care of yourself. They're beautiful. They make you happy. They brighten a room.
Sarah Soltis:They make you smile. So I think people are are stopping in more for, like, just I just want them on my table. I just want them to be pretty. I just want, you know so I think that that's, something that happens more than, you know, waiting for the special event. So I think that's that's starting to change too, and I think that that's awesome.
Anna Liz Nichols:While I was talking to you, I I thought about you mentioning, you know, only a few months before you took on the business. I know it's hard to talk about Mhmm. The before Valentine's Day shooting that happened at MSU campus. Terrible. Mhmm.
Anna Liz Nichols:In terms of community in there were so many moments of community involvement in in East Lansing rallying behind each other. There was, you know, coffee places that were giving free coffee. Strange Strange Matter gave free coffee. Just Just there there were a thousand and one like, in a fairly recent conversation I had, we we have a new parks and recreation director in East Lansing, and I talked to the previous parks and recreation director about, you know, what really makes our new director ready for the job, and she mentioned just his handling of that, that he utilized the the city's resources to organize just getting, like, the mental health therapy folks into the Hana community Center just it was all hands on deck for for a lot of entities. But something that visually sticks out to me from that time of everyone rallying together is that image of all the flowers in front of the Sparty statue on campus.
Sarah Soltis:Yeah.
Anna Liz Nichols:It was Yeah. Thou and in the years following, it's been thousands of flowers in front of of that statue and and in front of the union.
Sarah Soltis:Mhmm. Yeah. It's something that you can give. It's a physical representation of what you are feeling emotionally, something, you know, tangible that you can say, I care, and and not have to use the words to do it. So I think that that that makes, you know, flowers really a strong thing.
Sarah Soltis:It keeps it keeps us strong when we're in times where we need it. It gives us something to look at and something to to stand behind. I know that, you know, Lori was the owner at the time, and she donated so much, so much. And it was it was a very chaotic time here. I mean, obviously, it's a chaotic time everywhere, but it happened in the blink of an eye.
Sarah Soltis:You know, they always say those things happen so fast. And we went from valent because it happened on the thirteenth. We went from Valentine's Day preparations, because Valentine's Day is the fourteenth, to memorial. I mean, that is a huge switch from a holiday based around love and togetherness and switch to a memorial where it's still love and togetherness, but with a total different, you know, meaning behind it. And it was it just people were calling to cancel their arrangements, and so then we would, you know, instead take those arrangements and, you know, donate them to, you know, different places and different things.
Sarah Soltis:And I think that it was, you know, it was things like that that that got us through it. So I really commend Laurie for all that she did during that time and, you know, all that she donated, and and it was it was needed. And and I think it was important to do. So
Anna Liz Nichols:Mhmm. You know, in terms of what, you know, flowers can do, BA stands for blooming artistry. Like, this is this is art. I was wondering in our AI art era, fast fashion, any any word for kind of just this this streamlining of of art these days, how you feel maybe floristry plays into this creative and and artist landscape of of maybe preserving human made art.
Sarah Soltis:Yeah. I I definitely prefer, you know, the the the human made, the nature made art, that's definitely what we what we do. And and lots of times, it's it's more coming into play with weddings and events. Lots of brides are sending pictures. I, you know, I want this, and they don't realize that that doesn't exist.
Sarah Soltis:Oh. So it's kind of that, you know, that fine line. Nina is a a great manager here, and she deals with most of the of the brides. We work on all the designing and stuff and the background stuff together, but she does really the the the talking with everyone at first. And so many times, you know, she'll come to me with this photo and it's just it's just fake.
Sarah Soltis:Like, we just we can't. Like, that doesn't work. Either, you know, that flower doesn't come in that color or it's never gonna do what it's doing in that picture or, you know, something like that. So it's really more of an educational thing on a on a fairly regular basis now of just educating our customers. You know?
Sarah Soltis:That's that's not something that we can do that that, you know, that's not real. And then showing them photos of things that we have done. You know, this is what we can do that's similar. This is how this would really look. This is the real color of that, you know, things like that.
Sarah Soltis:So that's where, you know, the stuff that we post on social media or the stuff on our website really comes in handy. We we really do refer people to those and say, you know, this is our work. This is what we can do, and this is, you know, how we like to do it. I think that's where it affects our business the most is, I think, giving people some unrealistic expectations that we have to kind of, you know, just educate people and, you know, let them know that, you know, this is what we can do. So
Anna Liz Nichols:What does the bulk of floral orders look like for you guys? Is it mostly weddings? Is it day to day, through the door customers? What what does your customer base look like?
Sarah Soltis:Yeah. I think of of I mean, a huge portion of our customer base is, of course, MSU. So doing events for all of the different things that they do on campus, stuff at the stadium, stuff at the Kohl's house, you know, things like that. And then I would say students walking by. They they'll they'll just walk by, and they'll they'll wanna grab flowers for their date tonight, or they'll grab, you know, whatever.
Sarah Soltis:And then we do a lot of events. I would say our our events are, like, split maybe between, like, corporate events and weddings. It's coming into fall. Fall is becoming the big wedding season. It's it's not the summer anymore.
Sarah Soltis:So we're really gearing up for that. I mean, every weekend from now till almost December, we've got we've got at least, you know, a wedding, if not multiple weddings a weekend. So, yeah, it's it's still focused around MSU even even when you know, all the time. So
Anna Liz Nichols:How far is your your service area that you provide orders for?
Sarah Soltis:Yeah. Actually, we've expanded it because I actually live in Jackson. So because I go to Jackson every day because I live there, we'll deliver to as far, you know, south as Jackson, and then we are are all over up here within a good, you know, 50 mile radius or so from East Lansing. We we can usually cover. And I like that.
Sarah Soltis:I mean, I like being able to say, you know, somebody calls, hey. Can you deliver to Bath? Absolutely, we can. Can you deliver to Grand Ledge? Absolutely, we can.
Sarah Soltis:You know, we like to be able to to say yes as much as possible. So I think one of the things that I am kind of trying to destigmatize about BA is for some reason, and I don't know if it's because we do a lot of corporate events like big events. So a lot of the things that we post online is like big and elaborate and wonderful. But I I I wonder if people think that we are expensive. And I really am trying to make sure everybody knows that flowers are for everyone.
Sarah Soltis:You know, whether you have $5 to spend or you have $5,000 to spend, we've got you covered. And I think that that's something that a lot of people don't think about. They think, oh, I can get that, you know, cheaper somewhere else or whatever. And, you know, maybe you can get something cheaper somewhere else, but you won't get the quality that you would get here. So, yes, you can definitely still get something at any price point, and our something will last and be quality.
Sarah Soltis:And if it doesn't, for whatever reason because, I mean, it's perishable. You've ever ever bought a a package of strawberries at the store and you get them home and the next day they're mush? Well, that's you know, they didn't mean to. They're perishable. It happens.
Sarah Soltis:So if we ever do get anything in and we send it out and something bad happens, we stand behind it. Like, you know you know, the grocery store isn't gonna replace that for you. But, you know, they're they're gonna you know, whatever they do. But, you know, we're here for it. We you know, if you spend any amount of money on something, it should it should last as long as possible.
Sarah Soltis:It should do what it needs to do for you, and it should be beautiful. And we really wanna make sure that that happens. So, yeah, I think, you know, flowers definitely should be accessible to anyone. Another thing that I'm kind of trying to branch out into as well is I've really been working with some local artisans. So I there's a spot on our website.
Sarah Soltis:It only has two local artisans in it right now, but we're selling their products on our website and in store. And I think that that's really cool. It's another way to interact with the community and really spread out a little bit. It it gives them a little bit of a platform and recognition, and it helps our sales as well. It's, you know, it's a win win for everybody.
Sarah Soltis:And so I really like that we can start to do that with with people in the community too. So on our website, there's a really cool spot. It says local artisans, and there's homemade things, craft things. There's an author on there who, you know, sell a book that, you know, she's had written and stuff. And it's just I like doing stuff like that too.
Sarah Soltis:So if you if you know anybody, you know, have them reach out. Maybe maybe they have something really cool that we wanna incorporate, and, I think that would be fun to do. So
Anna Liz Nichols:Yeah. You're saying like, oh, like, maybe people are not like, you didn't say intimidated, but I'm using my words intimidated to to maybe come to BA and and seek out floral arrangements. I think it's because it's such a pretty building.
Sarah Soltis:Yeah. Well, I mean, definitely just come inside because know that, you know, all the pretty stuff that we put in here, we put it together, we can take it apart. It's not intimidating. We can do what we need to do. And, I I don't don't know if you've noticed, but I've kind of been bothered over here by my little baby too.
Sarah Soltis:We have a we have a little shop dog, Echo, and she's by my side here, and she's kinda she's kinda bugging me because I'm not paying attention to her right now. So if you hear her whimper in the background, that's her being being sassy.
Anna Liz Nichols:So So this isn't the first time, like, a dog has, like, interrupted the podcast before, so I can't see Echo right now. What kind of dog is Echo?
Sarah Soltis:She's a husky. Yep. She's a little husky, and she's with me here at work a lot of the time. So if you are intimidated, but you love dogs, come in and just just say hi to Echo. We have we have students will come in and they they just said, nope.
Sarah Soltis:Just here for Echo. Like, they will just we have a little couch area, and they just sit on the couch and just snuggle Echo. And it's it's a good little therapy session for for maybe, you know, some of the students whose their pets are home and they miss their dog or something. They come in and do that. So she's our little she's our little shop dog, our little therapy dog.
Anna Liz Nichols:So Thank you so much for for being on, and I appreciate it. And I'll let you get back to work, and I'll let Echo get back to their important work.
Sarah Soltis:Alright. Yeah. Okay. Thank you so much.