Hidden Gems: Meet Celia Alcaraz of Flower Bar

Today we’d like to introduce you to Celia Alcaraz. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Owners, Brett & Laura Huey, were once the owners of an automotive business in Detroit founded by Brett’s father. Once the recession hit, the Huey’s sold this business and were left wondering what to do next. Being entrepreneurs at the core, they tossed around different ideas of what was next. Laura worked part-time at a florist and then she saw the little blue building that is now Flower Bar. Flower Bar was formally named Bokays, where a woman named Kay lived and sold flowers at all times of the day. Kay was a staple in the community and so many knew her and helped her clean buckets as they stopped to pick up flowers. Laura thought, why not restore this building and bring the flowers back! As we worked on the building for the next 3 years as we did a full renovation, we decided that flowers couldn’t be our only product. Being in such a rural area and having grown up down the street, we thought, “What would we want?” So then began our vision of local coffee & espresso, local baked goods and pastries, fresh flowers, and all types of gifts from candles, boho decor, plants, and many from local vendors. We opened our doors on September 23rd, 2017, and just celebrated our 4th birthday. Our business is built on repeat, regular customers, which we didn’t even expect and now cherish. We know almost every person that walks through our doors, with their coffees already ready to go. We started hosting outdoor events/markets for local markets which has been a great way to support our community and just to have more fun, which we are all about. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Every business has had their struggles, and we are no different. In 2018, a drunk driver drove through our building in the middle of the night. The driver was not injured, but our building suffered a bit of damage. A few months later, we came to work to find that we had been broken into. Apparently, when the drunk driver hit the building, it somehow damaged our alarm system so we didn’t realize we had been broken into until my father showed up to work one morning. Luckily, only our cash drawer was stolen- it could have been much worse. Due to our location, we have a ton of road work being done around us so frequent detours have led to slow weeks, but nothing could have prepared us for COVID-19. When COVID-19 hit in March, we shut our doors until June. Being a family business, my mother, father, and I were basically jobless during those months with no source of income. After re-opening, we struggled immensely since most of our customer base was commuters and now, there are barely any commuters. We are VERY slowly starting to see an increase in commuters, but are still feeling heavy effects from the dramatic loss of daily business. As we look ahead, a roundabout will be going in at our intersection next summer and we will be shut down for 3 months while receiving no compensation. We are trying to take each day as we go and will take it head-on as it comes, as we did and will do for whatever challenge we face, 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Flower Bar is as small, as local, and as family-owned & operated as they come. Laura & Brett Huey, along with daughter, Celia Alcaraz, are the 3 main employees with Laura’s sister, Jill Paul, working part-time at the store as well. We love our local businesses and vendors. We get our coffee from Saugatuck, Michigan from Uncommon Coffee Roasters, local pastries from Cantoro’s Italian Market, West Fenkell Bakery, and Shimmy Shack (vegan & GF), and so many amazing products from local vendors. Our toffee is one of our best sellers, made by a mother & daughter in Novi, MI- BellStone Toffee, a great Christmas gift. We get these really cute and funny tea towels from Ellembee in Wixom, candles from Farmhouse Candles in Traverse City, and truly just so many more fun things, we offer vegan & GF products, and have a large selection of drinks and treats in general. We also recently built a drive-up window after the pandemic and that has helped us greatly and our customers love it as well! All of our items are hand-picked and we take pride in the products we sell. 

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
We are a true small, family-owned business. Our customers mean SO much to us, you are our lifeline and every purchase makes a huge difference to us. We really do, do happy dances when we’ve had a successful day. It is such a special thing to be able to work somewhere that our regulars our now our friends, and our regulars have made friends with each other! Our regulars come in, hang out with us, and are even a part of our lives outside of “work.” We didn’t realize we would get such incredible support and friendships out of Flower Bar and we couldn’t imagine our lives without you all! 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://flowerbarllc.wixsite.com/shopsmall
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowerbarllc/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlowerBarLLC