Against all odds, Artisan Bloom‘s new brick-and-mortar opened during COVID-19.
Luckily, Kellie Jackstein is no stranger to running a successful floral business. For 20 years, she’s been making a splash at luxury venues with her signature lush blossoms, dramatic ceiling treatments, romantic tablescapes and petal-carpeted aisles. It’s no wonder that two years ago, Jackstien was outgrowing her workshop and began planting new seeds for growth.
UB&G: What made you decide that Artisan Bloom was ready for a change?
Jackstien: I began searching for a design space for Artisan Bloom kind of on a whim. I knew I wanted to expand my company and felt like a beautiful, creative space for my designers to create and my clients to gather would add to the design experience synonymous to the Artisan Bloom brand. I wanted something that reflected my passion of transforming spaces. We do this all the time with our weddings, but transforming a design space was really exciting for me.
UB&G: How did you decide on the location for the new shop?
Jackstien: I purchased the building in December of 2018. I was looking for a true fixer upper. I love transforming a space and was excited to find something with great bones in an up and coming area. I was drawn to Old Town Midvale because I truly saw so much potential on this little tree-lined street. It’s quirky and charming. Enter 7573 S Main Street. Built in 1920, this building was NOT cute when I found it. Like, not at all. My friends and family thought I was crazy, but I saw potential and I knew given the era it was built, I might find some unique original details.
UB&G: Obviously, you know design. How did you narrow in on a renovation plan?
Jackstien: I had a killer Pinterest board that I was determined to execute in this renovation. We began renovation in August 2019. When we stripped the interior down to the four exterior walls, we discovered century-old brick, stick framing and duct work which I was thrilled to expose and incorporate into the overall design. Influenced by the 1920s era, we restored two original radiators and incorporated penny tile, marble top tables, bold brick and natural wood tones, layering in sparkling crystal chandeliers. Thank you Roaring 20s for that contribution to design! After blowing the budget (a lot) and timeline (a little), we happily moved in December 2019 and prepared for our glorious 2020 wedding season to begin.
UB&G: Boom! COVID-19 had other plans. How did you handle COVID-19 postponing your spring and summer weddings?
Jackstien: Within days of the announcement of a global pandemic, we learned that wedding season was put on hold indefinitely. It was a frightening prospect. With a design studio waiting for flowers and talented designers anxious to create, we brainstormed, googled Shopify coding, designed, developed and shot content. With herculean efforts from our team, we opened an online shop featuring gorgeous, luxe floral designs worthy of gifting just in time for Mothers Day.
UB&G: What makes Artisan Bloom’s floral designs so unique?
Jackstien: Everything we do is elevated, from our bloom selection and color stories, to our signature branded wraps and beautiful wax-seal enclosure cards, we want gifting to truly be an experience. We carefully curate seasonal collections, incorporating the most beautiful blooms. Everything we source is local, whether it’s from local farms or supporting local wholesalers. When launching this project, it was especially important to us that we support small local businesses impacted by Covid-19.
UB&G: How did this “pandemic pivot” work for your business?
Jackstien: We had a tremendous response to our online shop and on opening weekend, with the loving support of our loyal clients, our dear friends and excited industry partners, we sold out every design! We were so excited. The Artisan Bloom shop is here to stay. It’s been a creative haven in an uncertain time and we are truly grateful to our supportive community for believing in us. We continue to develop new designs that are striking and anything but basic. While we can’t wait to get back to weddings and events, we sure love the side venture of the Artisan Bloom Shop.
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