Vivienne’s new venture takes root in kiosks!
FLOWER SHOP IN DISUSED OLD CITY PHONEBOXES
AN entrepreneur has put Nottingham’s forgotten phoneboxes to good use – by using them as a display for her new flower shop.
Vivienne Deitmars, 57, is a former Debenhams employee who was recently made redundant.
She saw this as the perfect opportunity to pursue a lifelong dream of hers, going on to spend her redundancy package on renting the phoneboxes and starting up her own florist business.
Ms Deitmars, who lives near Sneinton Market, has a range of blooms delivered from The Netherlands on a daily basis.
Having moved to England from Holland in 1989, she says that she has now found a job that brings smiles to people’s faces.
She said: “I worked for Debenhams and of course we have all been made redundant so while we were in lockdown I saw it as an opportunity to do something new.
“I live in the city and, during the lockdown, I was looking for spaces to rent and I came across the phone boxes – it is something that in a matter of three or four weeks has gone from being a plan to being made into my reality.
“At the moment I am here seven days a week but in an ideal world I would love to grow more and not just sell flowers on the street, but have people order bouquets from me because at the moment it is just these tiny booths that I have got so I can only order so many flowers from The Netherlands.
“I try to offer something else other than your normal bouquet of flowers or what you can buy from supermarkets.
“Of course, it is a very risky business because I sell perishable goods. At the moment it is holiday time so there are a lot of tourists or staycation people.
“I am definitely a tourist attraction, I have noticed these past three weeks. I am putting a smile on people’s faces – flowers make me happy but I didn’t realise how happy and positive people would be when they walk by. It seems to be working.”
The K6 “Jubilee” kiosks – designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to commemorate the silver jubilee of the coronation of King George V in 1935 – have appeared on Rightmove for £30,000.
Others have been turned into coffee shops and bakeries.
Ms Deitmars added: “I walked past the phonebox and saw it was for rent and things fell into place.
“I met up with people from the Magic Garden to see how they felt about me being there and they have been very happy to have a flower shop in front of their place. Everyone has been very accommodating – so far. It’s been a lovely experience.
“Business has been good so far – I am starting to get a few regulars back.”
She works with little help – except for friend Pam Seagrave, 63, who has been showing support for Vivienne’s new venture.
Mrs Seagrave, who was also recently made redundant by Debenhams, said: “I come down on a couple of occasions just for a bit of support really.
“It looks lovely. It’s really pretty and it has created a lot of interest.
“She has a couple of wedding orders for next week as well!”
Due to Vivienne’s limited storage space, she now provides an option to pre-order flowers from her Instagram page at the flower box notts.