Rhuddlan's The Little Flowermonger offers a friendly service
A village florist says shopping locally offers a friendly experience which can’t be matched by browsing online.
Jacqui Bell set up Rhuddlan’s The Little Flowermonger in October 2019 and focuses on providing great customer experience as well as being sustainable, stocking mainly British flowers and using biodegradable packaging.
The Little Flowermonger also sells bespoke hand-made Christmas door wreaths and indoor floral decorations which can give your home a natural and stylish festive feel.
Jacqui, a former pupil at Howell’s School in Denbigh, said: “I sell fresh and dried flowers and I try to buy British grown flowers and foliage when possible and use the shop as a platform to showcase the wonderful stock grown in the country. Our stock is cut and couriered to me directly from the growers within the space of 24 hours.
“We also sell a wide range of recycled glass vases, hand-made candles and other gift wear from supplies that are in line with the sustainable ethos of the Little Flowermonger.”
Jacqui moved to London to train to be a florist and then worked with celebrity florists designing large scale events before opening her own shop, providing flowers for a number of film productions including Spiderman and Batman in the early 2000s, as well as a host of BBC dramas and events for book launches, back stage concerts, Hello magazine and Capital Radio.
Her bespoke Christmas door wreaths were used by a number of hotels in London as part of their festive decorations.
After moving to North Wales, Jacqui opened the Little Flowermonger and is now supporting the #LoveLiveLocal campaign being run by the Council, with the aim of encouraging more people to support local businesses and shop local this winter.
She said: “I think there are some great businesses to be found on our doorstep. I believe we should be using our local shops, it’s a lot more personal compared to the convenience of clicking on a link.
“Rhuddlan is a fantastic village and there are lots of independent traders here who provide brilliant products and great customer service. As a customer, I feel we want to feel good about spending money. Shopping should be a pleasant experience that no computer can reproduce, it's not often a computer asks how is your day is going or offers you a cup of tea and a chat.”
Jacqui attends flower markets herself to buy stock, removing the need for delivery vans and lorries.
She said: “The whole of my business is about trying to be as sustainable as possible, otherwise there was no point in opening as another flower shop selling the same, when the customer can go online and order and get a ‘paint by number’ bouquet with lots of plastic accessories.
“I keep my wrapping very simple, it’s all biodegradable, even my flower foods are in compostable sachets. I repurpose as much as possible and research daily about new ideas to constantly improve.”
For further information about the campaign, follow the Council’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as the #CaruBusnesauLleol / #LoveLiveLocal Facebook page.
[Denbighshire County Council would like to apologise for a previous version of this article which contained an error in the title.]