TOP TAKEAWAYS
Choosing the right space in the right location is one of the most consequential decisions a florist can make. These principles help guide smarter real estate decisions — whether you’re leasing, buying or planning your next move.
• The right space is about alignment — not prestige, square footage, or whether your name is on the deed.
• Real estate should support how your business makes money today whether that’s retail weddings, events production or e-commerce.
• The best spaces allow flexibility to grow, pivot, or add revenue streams as your business evolves.
• Real estate decisions should strengthen the long-term value of the business, including future sale expansion or succession plans.
• When space is chosen strategically, real estate shifts from a fixed cost to a competitive advantage.
VALUE MULTIPLIERWhen Tiger Lily’s founders bought and revitalized a former gas station, they converted real estate into equity — creating a fi nancial engine that powered future growth.
betting everything on transforming the old service station into Tiger Lily’s home — with a bonus space for them to lease to a wedding planner — creating a more diversified revenue base as florists and landlords. “We moved in two weeks before
Valentine’s Day,” Varga-Gonzales recalls. “We thought sales would be down, but the building got so much attention and recognition on how it was revitalizing the neighborhood, that we were so busy with orders.” By 2017, the equity from that location
funded a second location. When Holmes bought Tiger Lily in 2018, the founders kept the buildings, successfully transi- tioning from florists to landlords.
Rethinking Space in a High-Cost Market Today’s market is different. With interest rates high and valuations soaring — one property Holmes scouted jumped $1 million in just 18 months — buying isn’t always the smartest move.
The magazine of the Society of American Florists (SAF) 23
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