Small Town Businesses: Southern Roots Florist, Gifts and Event Rentals

I'd like to introduce you to our last featured small town shop. Twenty-three-year-old Dana Harn is the daughter of Deborah Harn, the owner of yesterday's featured shop, Vance Street Market Flower Shop. Dana will be opening Southern Roots Florist, Gifts and Event Rentals on Front Street in Warsaw this month.

Like her mother, Dana, too, wanted to run her own business. Because of the help of dear friend and stellar designer, Stacey McNeil, Dana was able to quit her job in Maryland and return to North Carolina to begin work on opening a florist shop.

Creativity:
Though Stacey will be in charge of design at the new location, Dana is also discovering a talent for creating floral and decorative arrangements. Dana finds inspiration from the creativity of others and discovering new things. "It helps me expand my own creativity and develop my style. I end up loving things I would not have otherwise thought of." Dana is drawn to decorative items that lend themselves well to a modern, industrial look. The atmosphere of her new shop clearly reflects the taste that is closest to her heart.

Though work is still in progress, the chic feel of the pallet accent wall is apparent, and the direction Dana plans to go, clear. Silk flowers intertwine with candlesticks while plastic bags sit nearby, holding materials and supplies for the work on the shop.

Dana and her friends and family are working hard to complete the shop for their October opening, while still running the business and filling orders through her mom's shop in Clinton.

Dana will be offering a full service florist experience to locals in Warsaw and the surrounding towns. She makes arrangements for birthdays, anniversaries, parties, weddings, funerals and home decor. She plans to focus on brides. In addition to offering flower arrangements, Southern Roots will have wedding rentals, including centerpieces, a small arch and planters to place at the ends of aisles and entryways. She and her mom will be collaborating on the rentals, what she doesn't have in her store can be borrowed from her mom's.

The shop features a bride's corner where Dana and her manager, Stacey, can consult with the brides and create floral arrangements and centerpieces to suit their needs.

Facing Fears:

Like the others in our business series, Dana faces the challenge of creating an income for herself through her shop. "I rely on my faith, and I pray a lot. I've also had a great support system," she says of her parents and friends. She gets great advice from her mom who, four years ago, went through the experience of opening her own shop. "There were also too many positives not to open this shop," says Dana. "They outweighed the negatives and the fears." Her greatest assets were the space she came across, a previous florist shop going out of business, her mom being a florist and available for advice and support, and her friend and manager, Stacey, playing a key role in the opening of the new shop.

Advice for New Shop Owners:

Although Dana is a new shop owner herself, I asked her what advice she could pass along from her experience thus far. Her answers were:

1. "You're never going to have enough money or time. You'll always doubt. Do it anyway. It'll make you realize how much you were missing out and that the stress of your life and job before this were not worth it."
2. "Do as much as you can yourself, if possible, especially if you're on a tight budget. There's an enjoyment in being part of your shop on that level. I appreciate my shop more because of it, and I've figured things out about my business. And it's fun!"
3. "Write a business plan." (Other owners have recommended the same. I'm seeing a pattern here, so a business plan must be a very important part of opening a new business.) "It gets you focused and shows you what's important and what's not in your business."

Gifts, Decor and More:

In addition to what you've seen in the photos above, here are a few more gift and decor items Dana will be carrying in her new shop.

She will also be carrying homemade soaps, Wet-it! reusable cleaning clothes (shown above), Savory's cracker mix and a variety of other gift options yet to be announced.

Dana gifted me a Wet-it! cloth to try. I love this pattern! The cloth is dishwasher safe, machine washable, and even bleach-able. Thank you, Dana!

Featured Fall and Christmas Items:

Dana offers fall-themed home decor and floral arrangements, as well as some cute fall and farm prints in these great Wet-it! cloths. Remember to get your Christmas wreaths as well when the time comes.

        

You can find Dana on Facebook and in future on Instagram.

If you are local, visit Dana's shop at 120 N. Front Street in Warsaw, call her at 910-293-7131, or email her at vsmandsrflorist@gmail.com.

Thank you to these four women who allowed me to talk with them and share their stories. And thank you to You for joining me on this Small Town Businesses series. I hope you enjoyed meeting some of the great people in my small town. I'll see you next week for more talk about books, life and people.


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