For years I’ve been saying that Buffalo needs flower carts and fruit/veggie carts, like you see in NYC. Around mid-summer I was introduced to a guy by the name of Denis Guerin who had recently relocated to Buffalo from NYC. He told me that he wanted to open a floral business, arranging and delivering flowers to the residential and corporate market. It told him that I loved his idea, but at the time he was nowhere near the point of opening. I suggested that in the meantime, why not build and operate a flower cart?
As you can see, Denis liked the idea and ran with it. First, he went to Rick Cycle Shop and they helped him to order a custom pedal-powered cart that was to his liking. At the same time, Denis set out researching ways to get quality wholesale flowers, in order to fill the cart. Fortunately, it all came together, and today Denis is the proud owner of the Petrichor Flora and the Beau Fleurs flower cart. Hopefully you have already seen it cruising around the city.
The flower cart works out great for Denis. Not only is he selling flowers, he’s also landing future clients. They see how attractive and fresh his flowers are and then he hands them a card. In the off-season he will be servicing residential and corporate accounts. “Too often we relegate flowers to the categories of gifts, a special treat or even a luxury in comparison to our needs on a daily basis,” says Denis. “I believe that flowers should be a part of our lives just like vegetables, ice cream or even that TV series you can’t stop watching. The purpose of my company is to break down the social/cultural barriers that keep us from making flowers a part of our everyday lives. Petrichor Flora’s primary purpose is to bring flowers and the floral craft directly into homes and businesses so that we can think of them as necessary as the art on our walls, the curtains in our living rooms or the photo of family on our work desks.”
Sometimes there’s nothing better than walking into a home or office, and being greeted with a colorful bouquet of flowers. Denis might be starting with the cart, but that’s just his way of marketing what he does, and making some money along the way. “My responsibility to my customers is to provide the following,” adds Denis. “Quality – I hand pick flowers each week from a variety of growers to ensure that I am offering the best flowers at affordable prices, Access: I don’t have a store, I have the Beau Fleurs cart and a car. I come to you, to sell, to arrange, to bring flowers into your homes, offices, restaurants-wherever there is a need. Passion – to convey, in everything I do, the importance of including flowers in our every day lives because through their beauty we can connect to nature. By simply looking at flowers or catching their scents we are communing something that is alive like us and, in a deep way, a reminder of how we are connected to our natural world.”
If you see Denis cycling around the city, be sure to stop him and ask about his flowers. Don’t forget to grab one of his cards, so that the next time you think that you might need a special type of floral service with a personal touch, Denis and his roaming flower business will be close at hand.
Petrichor Flora and the Beau Fleurs Flower Cart | Facebook | denis@petrichorflora.com | 716.949.0033
