In 2008, David Urban, who’d just earned a degree in horticulture from the University of Rhode Island, had one specific desire while in the market for a florist business. He wanted to buy a shop that had a garden center, so that he could offer customers seasonal plants.
Urban found what he wanted in Jamestown. With help from his family, the young horticulturist bought the Secret Garden, a small floral shop with a thriving garden center.
Now, it’s the garden center that’s become the core of his business during the COVID-19 crisis.
Although sales from flower arrangements are brisk – during the week of Mother’s Day, the business delivered nearly 900 bouquets, the most Urban has seen during his years as owner – the outdoor garden center is a steady draw that naturally allows for social distancing.
“The garden center is really helping us because people are at home and they want seed, they want vegetables. People are buying mulches, fertilizers and soils,” Urban said.
No customers have been allowed in the 1,100-square-foot shop since the onset of COVID-19, and Urban has thinned out his staff in order to maintain social distancing while preparing flower arrangements.
With fewer hands helping out, Urban has been busy keeping up with orders while many of the state’s small businesses were forced to close. Easter saw a spike in demand for fresh flowers, and orders for birthdays, anniversaries, new babies and get-well-soon wishes keep coming.
Urban estimates that the business is averaging about 20 deliveries per day in Jamestown and nearby towns.
“Everybody’s adapting in the best way they can, and flowers are bringing people the best possible energy to get them through these very depressing times,” he said.
For a few weeks in March, the shop had difficulty keeping flowers such as carnations and daisies in stock because wholesalers ran dry when farms in South America were affected by COVID-19.
With spring in full swing, Urban has turned to local growers in Newport, Middletown, Bristol, Tiverton and Washington County.
“We do buy from them in the summer, and we’re buying from them right now,” he said of local farms. “To make our arrangements really special, we try to put a garden flair on some of them. We use garden flowers like peonies in the spring and tulips and dahlias in the summer. We try to accent the arrangements with flowers from local growers.”
A focus on selection extends to the garden center, where customers can find numerous varieties of both flowers and other plants.
By expanding the business’s list of local suppliers and stocking it with a wider range of greenery and flowers, Urban said he has tripled sales since he purchased the shop from three sisters who owned the Secret Garden for nearly a decade.
Plans for expansion were discussed at the beginning of the year but were put on hold when the public health crisis hit.
Loss of revenue is looming with graduations and summer weddings canceled, along with many other special events that usually result in large flower orders, but sales so far have been steady.
Looking ahead to the summer, when second-home owners descend on Jamestown, Urban remains optimistic.
“Our strongest months are May through September,” he said.
OWNER: David Urban
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Florist and garden center
LOCATION: 12 Southwest Ave., Jamestown
EMPLOYEES: 10 to 12
YEAR ESTABLISHED: Late 1970s or early 1980s
ANNUAL REVENUE: WND
