By Beth Sluys
Northside News
Entering the flower and gift shop in NorthGate Shopping Center, you notice the vast array of gifts and the beautiful floral arrangements in the cooler, but mostly, you notice the warm smile and greeting from Naly Jasengnou, the owner of Naly’s Floral Shop. As Naly and her husband, Tou Lor, look toward celebrating the one-year anniversary of the shop’s opening in September, Naly expressed gratitude to her customers for their support and patronage. “We jumped into the world of retail and it has been a real adventure,” Naly said.
While not new to the floral business — her mother grows and sells flowers at the downtown farmers market — Naly is new to owning a storefront business. “The best part of our new business has been meeting people and making new friends. You can never have enough friends. We have enjoyed meeting our Northside neighbors and earning their loyalty as customers, and also meeting other business owners,” she said.
In looking back, the most difficult part of Naly’s first year was working long hours, having some sleepless nights, and most of all, being away from her children. While there was a learning curve in the first year, Naly claims that “it was all that hard work that led me into my greatest strength, which helped me to grow as a retail business owner and to become a better florist. My whole family supported me in various ways and continues to do so, for which I am grateful.”
Being a florist, Naly gets involved in all of the major life events that require flowers —from birthdays to graduations, weddings to funerals, and all occasions in between. “Flowers are intimate, they are personal,” stated Naly. “It is the greatest feeling when we have delivered our best, and we hope the sender and the recipient are as excited about the floral piece as we are. We are always honored and humbled to be part of a family’s tribute to their loved one when we work with a family for a funeral. We get to listen to incredible life stories and connect with the family, and then put all of those details into the floral designs. Every piece tells a life story, and we will work with the family to create that very special floral display.”
When asked about what the upcoming year holds, Naly listed new ideas that include do-it-yourself gift baskets, coupons at the NorthGate Neighborhood Market (Wednesdays, 3:30‒7pm), more local flowers and local chocolates, and a customer appreciation week (Sept. 10‒15). “We look forward to the adventure continuing, and we will keep bringing customer-inspired product ideas to our shop. We want to be the Northside community’s florist.”