Chloé and I found that when we came to the UK and specifically Southampton, florists are not as common as they are in France or Germany where there are flower shops on most street corners.
When we heard about Sweet Pea Florists we wanted to visit and find out more about Serena and her independent shop. The smell of freshly cut flowers and flower scent when we first stepped into the store was beautiful, it took us right back to our home countries' flower shops.
Serena Ford the owner and florist of the shop started advertising with Voice FM and has seen a massive difference in customers coming to her shop. Her iconic song which plays on the radio hourly is sung by people walking past the shop and customers sing it to them.
She opened a smaller shop in 2011 and in 2017 she moved to a bigger shop in Woolston because she had the opportunity to expand her business because of the advertising.
She expressed that everyone should be able to get good quality flowers for a good price. Her flowers come from around the world and locally in Southampton and can last up to two weeks if not longer.
The family-run business welcomes everyone with open arms and while you can order bouquets online, you can come into the store to choose and pick the flowers you want.
I think what we learnt so far, is that good quality products are sometimes a little more expensive but they last a lot longer compared to convenient cheap retail products.
We got to meet Serena and filmed a short video for you to watch, enjoy!
Listen Isabelle Hellstedt and Chloé Nowicki every Friday on the Lunch Box (noon to 2pm)
You can visit Sweet Pea Florists here sweetpeaflorists.co.uk
