New chapter for florist
DUNEDIN’S, and possibly the country’s, oldest florist has shut its doors — but not for good.
Miss Reid Floral left its old shop in the Octagon on Christmas Eve and was moved to an office at 418 Princes St.
However, it no longer has a shop front; customers have to make their orders online.
‘‘We’re moving our business from being a walkin in the middle of town to be somewhere people will come and look at art and can buy stuff online or call us and we’ll deliver flowers,’’ owner Jacqui Margetts said.
Going online would mean Ms Margetts, the only fulltime florist in the shop, could be more flexible with her time, rather than standing at a counter.
She said the flower orders would be fresher as well.
‘‘Online means that the customers can get the freshest flowers because if we’re not buying in bulk . . . you make an order and we’re going to pick out those flowers especially for you and that will be the same morning. And so the flowers last longer.
‘‘There’s a flexibility to not being tied down and waiting for someone to walk in.’’
Ms Margetts said it was possible that Miss Reid might have a shop front again in the future.
The Portobelloborn florist took up the ownership of Miss Reid after a year working under the tutelage of previous owner Patsy Murphy.
Mrs Murphy wanted someone to carry on the business on and asked Ms Margetts to take ownership.
Mrs Murphy was still helping out at Miss Reid and Ms Margetts said she hoped to continue serving the shop’s loyal customers.
One of the catalysts for the move to Princes St was access for delivery vehicles — something made difficult by the recent Octagon closure.
‘‘The Octagon closure I support, I think it’s good,’’ Ms Margetts said.
‘‘But as a deliverybased service, only getting access between 2am and 8am doesn’t really work for flower delivery.’’
She said the Octagon also had become more of a centre for bars and cafes rather than for retail stores such as hers.
During the move, Ms Margetts had learned a lot about the history of Miss Reid.
The shop opened in 1883 at a site in Princes St and moved around the city a bit before landing in the Octagon.
‘‘It’s changed locations quite a few times,’’ Ms Margetts said.
‘‘It’s provided slightly different services over the years. What we’re doing now is actually more similar to how it started, which was more of a gallery aesthetic and you’d go and have a consultation and then they’d make up the [flowers]. You wouldn’t just walk away with flowers.’’
The shop began with a ‘‘Mr Reid’’, who was a flower grower and did a lot of shows with chrysanthemums and other popular flowers.
The shop was named after Mr Reid’s wife who was Miss Reid at the time.
‘‘It was the sister and the wife that were more artistic and were doing the big flower displays,’’ Ms Margetts said.
The shop was starting to do more weddings and other events that required flower displays, she said.
It was also collaborating with art galleries for up and coming shows in Dunedin.
Ms Margetts is interested in hearing from people who have been customers of Miss Reid’s in the past and would like to share their story with her.