Forty years celebrated with flowers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/10/2020 (2046 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the language of flowers, vibrant and cheerful colours are the best way to say congratulations.

So, it’s fitting that Academy Florists on Corydon Avenue was filled with bright blooms and interesting greenery last week as the company celebrated its 40th anniversary under the ownership of Irene Seaman.

The actual date when the businesswoman took over the company was Oct. 1, but she decided to hold the celebration after Thanksgiving long weekend, to allow herself more time to plan for the celebration.

Seaman said she bought the original Academy Florists, located on Academy Road, in 1980. 

“I’ve been working in the floral business since 1969 when I was 17 years old,” she said, adding she quit school and opened her first flower shop in Transcona. “So I’ve been working for 51 years, which is great, since I’m only 29 years old.”

She remembers her father telling her to “do what you do best, and you’ll be happy.”

“I’ve never thought of another line of work. I was meant to be in the flower business. I’m always doing arrangements in my head.”

Her grandparents ran a greenhouse in Germany. Her father ran the Behnke Greenhouses on Rose Avenue off St. Anne’s Road.

“I remember running through the greenhouses when I was six and eight years old, singing at the top of my lungs,” Seaman said.

The past 40 years at Academy Florists have seen good times and hard times. The company expanded to several locations, but has since dropped back to the sunny location on Corydon Avenue.

“I’ve had coolers break down, and all the flowers freeze. There were times when my employees got paid more than I did,” she said. “And we’ve seen so much change in the technology. From fax machines and the credit card machine that printed out a slip, and the days when people put their flower orders on account and we’d send out a bill.”

Today, one-quarter of their business continues to be walk-in sales, and the rest of the orders are taken online or over the phone. The pandemic saw them adapt quickly to more online sales and deliveries, as customers changed their shopping habits.

Flower preferences have changed over the years as well, but Seaman said she tries to buy Canadian-grown flowers before turning to international sources. “In the summertime, we love to support the four or five Manitoba growers,” she said. “We also buy a lot from Ontario and British Columbia growers. We get late-season peonies in August from growers in northern Quebec.”

Roses, carnations, Bird of Paradise and orchid flowers are the main flowers she imports. “When we started, flowers used to come into a wholesaler in Winnipeg. Today, we do all our own ordering,” she said. “We will go to the ends of the earth to find flowers for a bride who wants something specific.”

Weddings took a huge hit this year after the pandemic shutdown and subsequent restrictions on attendance at indoor and outdoor gatherings in Manitoba, according to Seaman.

“A lot of brides postponed their weddings, or decided to have very small ceremonies at the last minute,” she said. “At one point, 100 people were allowed at an outdoor wedding. Now, it’s down to five people. So, the wedding party doesn’t need as many flowers.”

Instead, business has picked up as people send flowers to each other, often with sentimental messages about missing a big occasion. “People can’t join in each other’s birthdays or anniversaries, due to the pandemic. So they’re sending flowers to say congratulations,” Seaman said. “Flowers are so therapeutic. There’s nothing like a bouquet of flowers on the table to brighten up a home.”