Picky petal people keep family business alive

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (22/01/12 Robin MacKinnon, 11 and her brother Nathan 14, along with their Mother Anne MacKinnon and her Parents Nora and Rob Barber of the longstanding Barber's Flower Shop, become the human version of their family business slogan "The Picky Petal People". Anne is the Great Great Grandaughter of Samuel Stanley Potter, the original owner dating back to 1890. The business has survived five generations and has been in the same location at 122 Front street for the past 36 years. Photo by Sharon Kallaste

By Sharon Kallaste

Thirty years ago Anne MacKinnon said, “I’m never going to be a florist.”

But she soon gave up thoughts of being a marine biologist, took a two-year course for retail floral culture and joined the family business. She has been arranging flowers at Barber’s Flower Shop on Front Street in Belleville ever since.

Anne MacKinnon is the first ‘flowerette’ of her family, succeeding a long lineage of ‘flower pot men’ stemming back to 1890. She took over the ownership of the family business in 1976.

MacKinnon is the great great granddaughter of Samuel Stanley Potter, who was affectionately known as S.S., a prominent vegetable grower and cannery owner in the Prince Edward County.

In the early 1900’s, it was not considered appropriate for women to become business owners. One of Potter’s four daughters, Lottie Mae Barber, worked in the store while her son Stanley Barber, MacKinnon’s grandfather ran the business.

When Stanley retired, his eldest son took on the greenhouse operations and Rob Barber, MacKinnon’s father, came in to manage the store front.

Approaching 125years and five generations of operation in 2015, the future succession of Barber’s Flower Shop is yet to be determined.

“I have not really thought that far. I guess once my kids are old enough to know whether they do or don’t want to be in the business– if they do I will hang around as long as they need me or want me,” MacKinnon, 43, explained with a smile.

“My son Nathan, 14, has his sights set on becoming a pilot. He is involved in the air cadets and has talked and thought about being a pilot for a few years. He keeps the idea of the flower shop in his back pocket for when the time comes to make any sort of decision for his own future. Robin, my daughter, 11 is a go-getter. She will try anything once, the world is going to be her oyster,” said MacKinnon.

Because MacKinnon took over Barber’s Flower Shop, now 36 years in the same location, she has not worried about being a small business surviving in downtown Belleville.

“I have never had to do that–come in to start up a business. It’s always been here. Being a small business owner, you are wearing multiple hats. The flower shop is never boring with no two days a like,” said MacKinnon.

Barber’s Flowers has a complement of seven staff including MacKinnon, two full-time and one part-time designers, four clerks and delivery staff. At busy times like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, the staff is doubled to meet customers’ needs.

When the Barber children were young, Anne and her older brother Paul and sister Lynn, would spend time at the shop while parents Rob and Nora Barber would fill orders during peak business.

“Mom would pop me in a flower box for the day and shuffle me around the store floor.  My children spent time in the slings attached to me all day if need be. Our standing family saying is you are not a true florist until you have slept in a flower box.”

Constant changing trends within the industry along with global economic barriers challenge small business owners to adapt to new ways of keeping their businesses profitable.

‘The Picky Petal People’ have an edge within the struggling small business market through their longevity in the downtown area.

By keeping her ear to the ground and finding out what is going on in the community, MacKinnon picks up “tidbits” about what works for other businesses that she had never thought of for her own.  She has recently joined the Belleville Chamber of Commerce and will be the supplier of the table centerpieces at their annual meeting.

“Keeping up to date in the constant changing styles, techniques and trends of the flower industry is very important to me. The head designer and I just attended a workshop on wedding bouquets back in the fall. In the spring, my other designer and I went to a workshop on corsages and boutonnières.”

Small business survival today relies heavily on a committed and loyal customer base.

“We really pay attention to quality. If it is not good enough to sit on my table, then it’s not going out the door. It has our name on it so obviously I want us to do our very best for our customers. I want something that’s going to be pleasing to their eye esthetically and give them good value for their money.

“In this business, our customers are ordering something they may never see. They could be in another country sending flowers to someone here in Belleville and they trust us and depend on us to express their sentiment. We don’t take that trust lightly and we do our very best.”

Old-fashioned basic business practice has certainly stood the test of time in the Barber’s family.

If we have any customers that may make a mistake in over watering one of our flowers, or put it near a heat register or whatever – doesn’t matter. We ask them to bring it back or we’ll go pick it up if we have delivered it. We will replace it and then go as far as helping the customer get the next one to last longer. “

“We really take care of our customers and over the years they have taken care of us.”