Buds and Blooms, a floral boutique based in Sparwood, opened a second location in Fernie on Nov. 18. The new retail location is in the same building as Mugshots, just off of 2nd Avenue.
Owner Sherry Benko opened Buds and Blooms over two years ago in Sparwood and felt like it was the right time to expand to Fernie.
“Running two stores is almost as easy as running one store, and we have great staff,” she said. “We will offer the same products in both stores.”
Benko added that she conducts classes out of her Sparwood location, and intends to do classes in Fernie as well. There are classes on wreath making, floral arrangements and classes catering to children.
“We have done some kids classes but we’ve done them through the District of Elkford so we don’t do them in the shop. We may still do something like that here but there are too many breakables to do something like that in [the shop]. It’s still on our radar to do kids’ classes,” she said.
Benko was born and raised in the Elk Valley and is happy to have her businesses in the area. She started looking for retail spaces in Fernie about two months ago, and said all the factors have fallen nicely into place for the Fernie shop.
“I bought out a florist last year as well, so I had enough stock and enough coolers and that type of thing to facilitate two stores, so that was what made it easy. I didn’t have to shop for a whole new store,” she said. “Once you’ve opened one, it’s easier. We have wrapping and bags and containers and all the type of stuff that we can just basically split it, so that’s what we did.”
Buds and Blooms arranges flowers for all occasions, including weddings, funerals, and graduations. Benko said she also does pop-up locations at dance recitals and skating competitions in the area.