Robert Wheeler owns American Beauty Florist on Park Street in Riverside.
WHAT DOES HE DO
AS OWNER?
“Everything. I answer the phone, wait on customers, design and deliver.”
STAFF MEMBERS?
“Just one, a driver. My friend Jan has been helping me out over the holidays.”
HOW LONG HAS HE
BEEN IN BUSINESS?
Wheeler opened the shop at the current location as the sole proprietor in July 2000. He has been working in the field for 30 years.
LINGERING BEAUTY
American Beauty Florist has been around since 1927. According to Wheeler, the shop began as a mom-and-pop operation in Springfield. The couple grew plants in their yard and sold them from their front porch to visitors heading to St. Luke’s Hospital. Wheeler managed the shop for 14 years when it was in Methodist Medical Center. Shands subsequently acquired the property and decided to shut down retail operations. Wheeler bought the business but could not agree on rental terms for the space. After looking in Springfield and downtown, he moved to Riverside. “This spot was built as a bar in 1940. It’s been a good location. Riverside is a good community to be a part of.”
IS FLORAL DESIGN AN
ART FORM?
“Yes, because you’re creating. Taking a product and giving it a totally different look takes a little artistic ability.”
HOW DOES HE CREATE
A BOUQUET?
“I don’t even think about it. I start with a color scheme, dimensions and a container. Then I add greenery or moss. If it’s a silk arrangement, I’ll pick out the flowers and show them to the customer. If they like it, I’ll go ahead and make it. If it’s fresh, I’ll select the flowers and give them a price. We tailor arrangements to people’s needs and income.”
WHAT’S REWARDING ABOUT HIS WORK?
“Flowers bring smiles to people’s faces. We’re helping with people’s psyches, even at funerals. Flowers at a funeral are for the living, not the deceased. The family sees that people thought well enough of them to send flowers. It’s a fun, exciting industry, except the holidays are stressful.”
HOW HAVE SALES BEEN?
“For the most part steady, even with the economy the way it is. Flowers are basically a luxury item. The Riverside people that live in the neighborhood are my basic target. People in this area tend to shop where they live. We stay open until 6 p.m. so they can still get here before we close. Plus, we offer services the others don’t. Our close competitors don’t offer wire services.”
HAS HE CONSIDERED OPENING A SECOND STORE?
“Expansion would be great but that would take two of me. You don’t have to be large to be good.”
HOW DID HE START IN
THE BUSINESS?
“I had friends that worked at a shop on the beach. They called me and said, ‘We have an opening for a designer. Come apply.’ I said, ‘I don’t know anything about design.’ They said, ‘Come on out; we’ll help.’ So I went out and the owner gave me a list of things he wanted me to do, then he left. One of the things I was to make was a flat spray, styrofoam that you put flowers and greenery into with wooden picks. He picked it up, looked at it and threw it against the wall. I thought, ‘Oh man, does he hate what I did!’ Then he smiled at me and said I was hired. I asked why he threw it against the wall. He said, ‘To check it to see if it would fall apart. I didn’t, so you’re hired.’ The industry has come a long way since then.”
WHERE DID HE HONE
HIS SKILLS?
Locally, Wheeler was employed at LaMee’s. In Atlanta, he worked for Fraser’s and Anthony’s floral shops. Additionally, he taught his green thumb tricks to garden clubs at Lanier’s School of Design in Atlanta.
HIS LONG TERM GOAL?
“I would like to see my company prosper and I would like my name known all over Jacksonville as providing good quality flowers and professional work. I’ll put that on my tombstone. I’m rather picky about the flowers that go out. If they’re marginal, they don’t go out. I live in Springfield four miles from the shop. My wholesaler is between my home and the shop so I’m able to stop by every morning and purchase fresh flowers. I don’t have to buy something a week in advance hoping it will sell.”
HOMETOWN
Jacksonville.
HOBBIES?
“I did have before I opened the business. I used to collect antique bottles. I was a member of the Georgia-Florida Antique Bottle Association. We would go out and dig in dumps from the turn-of-the-century.”
HIS FAVORITE THINGS?
“To go home and rest. Prior to that [owning his own business], it was having dinner at the Landing.” Wheeler also enjoys Japanese or Chinese food and tuning into the latest episode of “ER.”
WHO’S YOUR HERO?
“Jimmy Carter because of his efforts with Habitat for Humanity.”
— by Monica Chamness