MEMBER PROFILE 



Bank. It had been divided into two 1200-square foot 

 sections. He used just one, keeping the partitions 

 housing various offices and using these for his own of- 

 fice and for specific product groupings. 



Selling cut flowers and floral arrangements seemed 

 obvious — but he knew nothing about them. He talked 

 a retired florist friend into working with him ("for a 

 year and two weeks — he got me through the second 

 Mother's Day"), and teaching him the arts of design 

 and of running a florist shop. 



Gillyflower opened in May, 1996. "There was some 

 rough sledding for awhile:" there had never been a 

 florist shop in the area and people didn't think about 

 buying flowers because the opportunity had never 

 been there. So part of the job was getting people used 

 to a new idea. 



Also, townspeople, perhaps surprisingly in this age 

 of mobility, have remained connected to specific eth- 

 nic groups: Greenville is strongly French-Canadian; 

 New Ipswich is Finnish. Both groups are large enough 

 to be fairly self-sufficient, so part of the job has been 

 to build trust of an "outsider." 



But there were few advertising opportunities — word- 

 of-mouth still is how it's done in small, semi-rural 

 places. But marketing can take different forms. For 

 John, it became finding the right product mix. 



He chose not to compete with the hardware store — 

 there's no bird seed or tools, but to complement it, 

 the idea being that if people stopped at one place, 

 they might come over and buy something here too — 

 and if there were a possibility of finding two things 

 rather than two versions of one, they might be more 

 apt to stop. 



The mix is casual — if there's a single theme, you 

 might call it "everything for festive occasions." There 

 are party supplies — plates, cups napkins; balloons; in- 

 cense; candles; greeting cards; gifts — Beanie Babies; ex- 

 amples of local crafts — birdhouses and wooden garden 

 ornaments — and photography. 



There's chocolate candy and a selection of Finnish 

 items — decals of flags and cute Vikings, Viking hel- 

 mets (although the Finns were never Vikings); framed 

 inspirational messages sell well; a surprising amount of 

 space is used to display Camille Beckman scented sa- 

 chets, hand creams; and bath powders — "I carry nine 

 scents — it's a year-round seller that appeals to a basi- 

 cally female clientele". If the some of the choices seem 

 unusual, they're also pragmatic. 



Silk flowers and artificial floor plants are scattered 

 throughout the shop ("I originally bought them for 

 decoration, but people wanted to buy them, so now I 

 keep a few on hand."); there's not a lot of live mate- 

 rial. He buys this in small amounts two or three times 

 a week. A decorative display cart, with gro-lights in its 



roof, stays filled with four-inch house plants; he often 

 offers weekly specials — one week, it was roses at six 

 dollars a dozen. 



In spring and summer, he brings plants (planted in 

 quart containers) down from his garden and sets them 

 on a cart out front. If they begin to look ragged, they 

 go back to be replanted and others take their place. 

 John also has a small cutting garden at his home and 

 supplements bought-in cut flowers with some of his 

 own. 



Christmas brings wreaths and poinsettias and holi- 

 day arrangements in the cooler. Again, numbers are 

 small, but everything's fresh. 



SINCE OPENING three years ago, business has 

 tripled. Two months ago, he took down the wall, tore 

 out the tellers' cages, and doubled his space. Again, he 

 kept the small compartments that had held bank of- 

 fices ("a gift shop shouldn't look like a supermarket") 

 and there is now an area of party supplies, a quiet 

 place for people to discuss and choose flowers for vari- 

 ous functions, and an area for seasonal displays. 



Greeting card choices have increased — from two 

 racks to "four racks and two spinners." 



He's bought a larger cooler. The first cooler was 

 simply a display cooler. The new cooler contains, be- 

 hind the display area, a six-by-seven foot walk-in stor- 

 age area. And he's hired a full-time "designer-in-train- 

 ing." 



He still does little advertising, but his marketing 

 seems long term and correct. This year, Santa came by 

 for a day. People could bring their children to be 

 photographed in his lap. The event was advertised by 

 fliers in banks and other businesses. Seventy-five 

 kids — and their parents — showed up. 



More importantly perhaps, John's involved in orga- 

 nizing the Mascenic Board of Trade. There are over 

 two hundred small businesses in the tri-town area, of- 

 ten on rural roads with little or no signage. We don't 

 want to change this, but we do want people to know 

 what's available and to encourage people from other 

 areas to come and shop here." Dues are minimal — ten 

 dollars; fifty businesses have joined: the first project 

 will be a directory and map showing members' locations. 



So the outsider is slowly becoming an insider . . . 

 and as John becomes more a part of these highly indi- 

 vidualistic and independent communities, Gillyflower 

 Glen will grow and prosper. (BP) 



Gillyflower Glen Florist and Gifts is at the NeWest Mall 

 on Route 124 in New Ipswich. The phone number there 

 is 60^-878-0804. Gillyflower Glen Gardens is at 22} 

 Macdowell Road in Peterborough. The number there is 

 6o3-p24-6j8p. 



