In September of 2012 the retail complex housing Auburn Country Florist and 5 other businesses was completed destroyed by an overnight fire. Now, more than a year later, owners Henry & Sherry Fiser are throwing open their doors for a grand re-opening. Here is my recent interview with Henry (longtime FlowerChat member @Hollywood ) on the eve of their comeback venture.
Ryan: Last fall something happened to you that is every business owner's worst nightmare. Can you run us through the events of that night?
Henry: During the night of Saturday September 15 2012 at 1.15am Sunday we got a call from the landlord telling us that our flower shop was on fire.........unconsciously we feared this call over the year, any call in the middle of the night is generally bad news, Sherry and I rushed down to our shop which was only a few minutes from our house. Half way there the smoke was so dense we could not see thru, we forced our way in, knowing the road very well and we see our shop engulfed in flames, actually the whole complex consisting a 6 stores, several fire trucks, firefighters everywhere, we were at first in shock. I always admired people who go thru fires and rubles from Hurricane or Tornadoes and wondered how these people could be so strong after such disasters and carry on and rebuild.
R: This wasn't just a fire that damaged a room or two - how extensive was the damage?
H: 6 businesses were damaged 100%.
R: What was it like for you trying to pick up the pieces afterwards and rebuild?
H: It was a new feeling for us but with time and reflection it became like a spiritual journey. Should we dwell on this bad situation? or should we just relax, focus, assess the situation and make decisions? It was decision time and for Sherry and I the decision was, GO FOR IT. Like we said at different times in our lives together, "this is still better than 2 broken legs".
Slowly we started again to think positive now that the smoke had dissipated.
R: You and Sherry have been in the business a long time. At some point during the past year you must have been tempted to just pack it in. What kept you going through the process of restarting your business?
H: No , if we did it was immediately rejected. We had several reasons to restart our business. First, we still have bills to pay and a mortgage to honor. Second, it is not in us to give up and just disappear. Third, we love this business, flowers, colors, scents, organization, timing, creating.........all feelings that have been part of our inner being for ever and finally The CHALLENGE: to go thru the process of restarting from ashes ( as a matter of speaking) and see if we can make it fly. What do we have? where do we go? when do we do it? etc.......We had a little money from our insurance ( Hortica, which is THE insurance to have for us florists, they have been super extraordinary in their attitude with us and with our settlement, we highly recommend these good people ...HORTICA), a place to do business?, difficult to find, too small, too big, too far. Finally we made the decision to open a studio on our property where we have a large new building perfect for that. Being pretty handy and enthusiastic about our future, we start building everything needed to operate a flower shop. Actually in the old shop we had 3 designers stations now here we have 7 stations, surrounded by trees, birds, calm and serenity we have the perfect setup to create masterpieces.
We have a good list of our best and favorite customers that we are going to call, we are on Facebook at "Auburn Country Florist" we have several adds in local newspapers published every months until Mother's Day next year. We have two articles in the Auburn journal and the Grass Valley Union coming out anytime between now and Christmas. We have planted large signs in specific areas and one on the piece of land where our flower shop was. So we have all aspects covered and most of all people around our area are extremely happy to see us back, because they love our style, our generosity and our flowers. That was one of our question: After one year of absence how was our reputation?
Intact and as strong as before, so in one word we have it all.
R: What advice do you have for other flower shop owners, after going through this experience yourself?
H: Cry first, then stop crying and go back to this business that brings us so much joy and makes us experience many different feelings including the feeling sometimes of wanting to run away (especially at Valentine's or Mother's Day) but neither of us florists ever ran too far because being a florist is some kind of a GOOD addiction.
The other advice (if I may) give our florists friends is to be friend with you Ryan. You have done so much for so many it's incredible and so much appreciated by all of us. Thank you Ryan and FlowerChat.
I will be following up with Henry and Sherry in the coming weeks to learn how their re-launch is progressing.
You can show your support by Liking the Auburn Country Florist Facebook Page, and posting a message of encouragement either there or here on FlowerChat!
Ryan: Last fall something happened to you that is every business owner's worst nightmare. Can you run us through the events of that night?
Henry: During the night of Saturday September 15 2012 at 1.15am Sunday we got a call from the landlord telling us that our flower shop was on fire.........unconsciously we feared this call over the year, any call in the middle of the night is generally bad news, Sherry and I rushed down to our shop which was only a few minutes from our house. Half way there the smoke was so dense we could not see thru, we forced our way in, knowing the road very well and we see our shop engulfed in flames, actually the whole complex consisting a 6 stores, several fire trucks, firefighters everywhere, we were at first in shock. I always admired people who go thru fires and rubles from Hurricane or Tornadoes and wondered how these people could be so strong after such disasters and carry on and rebuild.
R: This wasn't just a fire that damaged a room or two - how extensive was the damage?
H: 6 businesses were damaged 100%.
R: What was it like for you trying to pick up the pieces afterwards and rebuild?
H: It was a new feeling for us but with time and reflection it became like a spiritual journey. Should we dwell on this bad situation? or should we just relax, focus, assess the situation and make decisions? It was decision time and for Sherry and I the decision was, GO FOR IT. Like we said at different times in our lives together, "this is still better than 2 broken legs".
Slowly we started again to think positive now that the smoke had dissipated.
R: You and Sherry have been in the business a long time. At some point during the past year you must have been tempted to just pack it in. What kept you going through the process of restarting your business?
H: No , if we did it was immediately rejected. We had several reasons to restart our business. First, we still have bills to pay and a mortgage to honor. Second, it is not in us to give up and just disappear. Third, we love this business, flowers, colors, scents, organization, timing, creating.........all feelings that have been part of our inner being for ever and finally The CHALLENGE: to go thru the process of restarting from ashes ( as a matter of speaking) and see if we can make it fly. What do we have? where do we go? when do we do it? etc.......We had a little money from our insurance ( Hortica, which is THE insurance to have for us florists, they have been super extraordinary in their attitude with us and with our settlement, we highly recommend these good people ...HORTICA), a place to do business?, difficult to find, too small, too big, too far. Finally we made the decision to open a studio on our property where we have a large new building perfect for that. Being pretty handy and enthusiastic about our future, we start building everything needed to operate a flower shop. Actually in the old shop we had 3 designers stations now here we have 7 stations, surrounded by trees, birds, calm and serenity we have the perfect setup to create masterpieces.
We have a good list of our best and favorite customers that we are going to call, we are on Facebook at "Auburn Country Florist" we have several adds in local newspapers published every months until Mother's Day next year. We have two articles in the Auburn journal and the Grass Valley Union coming out anytime between now and Christmas. We have planted large signs in specific areas and one on the piece of land where our flower shop was. So we have all aspects covered and most of all people around our area are extremely happy to see us back, because they love our style, our generosity and our flowers. That was one of our question: After one year of absence how was our reputation?
Intact and as strong as before, so in one word we have it all.
R: What advice do you have for other flower shop owners, after going through this experience yourself?
H: Cry first, then stop crying and go back to this business that brings us so much joy and makes us experience many different feelings including the feeling sometimes of wanting to run away (especially at Valentine's or Mother's Day) but neither of us florists ever ran too far because being a florist is some kind of a GOOD addiction.
The other advice (if I may) give our florists friends is to be friend with you Ryan. You have done so much for so many it's incredible and so much appreciated by all of us. Thank you Ryan and FlowerChat.
I will be following up with Henry and Sherry in the coming weeks to learn how their re-launch is progressing.
You can show your support by Liking the Auburn Country Florist Facebook Page, and posting a message of encouragement either there or here on FlowerChat!
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