CHEYENNE — In some ways, it was the ultimate Mother’s Day gift, even though the gift didn’t necessarily happen on that exact date.
In 2019, Shareen Brendle’s mother was showing early signs of dementia.
“So I bought Bouquets Unlimited from her, because it was her only out for retirement,” Brendle told Cowboy State Daily. “And then she passed away in 2022.”
Four short years later, Brendle’s independent florist shop faces a tough reality. Her Mother’s Day sales were down 10% this year, even as she heard of a nearby store giving away free bouquets for the holiday as an in-store promotion.
It felt like a sign of the times to Brendle. She’s been helping her mom at the family’s legacy shop for 38 years, and she’s watched independent florist shops dwindle all along the way.
In 1992, there were 27,000 florist storefronts in America. By 2012, that number had dropped by almost half to 14,000. Today, they number 11,750.
Soon that will be 11,749.
That’s because Brendle has made the difficult decision to close her mother’s store in June — one more independent florist succumbing to e-commerce and big-box price undercutting amid ever-tighter margins from rising fuel and other overhead costs.
“I’m broken-hearted about it,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “But think about the hundreds of chain stores that buy in bulk. They have hundreds of stores, so they can get better deals than small stores.”
Oftentimes, Brendle has even seen retail prices at big-box stores and supermarkets that are lower than her wholesale prices.
“I just can’t do it anymore,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s just become tougher and tougher, and we’ve had to get tighter and tighter.”
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said. 
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said. 
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said.
A Focus On Family, Community
Bouquets Unlimited has been part of Cheyenne’s business landscape for 44 years. Brendle’s mother opened the shop, and for decades the store has been as much about family and community as it has flowers.
“We really balanced each other out,” Brendle said, chuckling a little bit. “It was the yin and the yang. I got to see my mom every day. A lot of people don’t have that novelty. We worked together side by side.”
Her mom was the public face for the business — active in the Chamber, Kiwanis, and other local groups — while Brendle handled the less glamorous side of ownership. She did the hiring, the firing, the purchasing, and paying the bills.
“I did all the things that owners don’t want to do,” she said.
But she also made beautiful arrangements, winning a national floral design contest with Florist Magazine in 1998. On a trip to Hawaii, a stranger even recognized her win.
“It was like my 10 seconds of fame,” Brendle said. “He’s like, ‘Hey, you’re the one who won that design contest.’ And he goes, ‘I love your work.’ My mom was so proud.”
Even though the man was not a celebrity or someone she knew, it was a neat experience that someone from so far away had recognized her work.
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said. 
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said. 
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said.
Shifting Shopper Habits
For Brendle, the trend isn’t about people falling out of love with flowers. Demand for flowers has remained strong nationally, and she sees that locally as well.
The problem for small mom-and-pop stores like hers is how many people have shifted to online buying strategies, hoping to save a buck or two on bouquets.
Nationwide, marketshare for florist shops has shrunk about 1% year over year, dropping to about $7.9 billion, according to IBISWorld’s Florists in the US Industry Analysis.
Meanwhile, digital rivals — online marketplaces, floral apps and the big national brands like 1-800-Flowers that live on the web — have grown roughly 9.1% annually.
On top of that, flowers are regularly available in convenience stores and supermarkets, stacked in mass-merchandiser coolers or supermarket endcaps.
They’re available through same-day delivery apps that promise sushi with a side of laundry detergent or anything else consumers desire.
Lowe’s giving away flower bouquets for Mother’s Day, a holiday that had typically been a top sales event for her store, felt like the last straw.
“They can take that hit because of all the things they sell,” Brendle said. “So guys will be like, ‘Oh sweet, now I don’t have to go to a flower shop.’ So that cuts us out. It’s just little things like that.”
The fact that such bouquets aren’t custom-designed and won’t last for very long doesn’t seem to matter to customers anymore, Brendle added. They’re cheap, they’re convenient, and for many people, that’s become “good enough.”
Global Supply Chains Favor Volume
Behind those cheap, grocery-store bouquets is a global supply chain that only works on volume.
The premade bunches now crowding U.S. supermarkets start in places like Colombia and Ecuador where labor is cheap.
Flowers are cut, sorted and assembled into ready-to-sell bouquets, then flown into U.S. hubs, moving through highly automated distribution centers, so they can be delivered in bulk to retail chains.
Because these bouquets arrive premade, retailers don’t need to staff a full floral department with trained designers. They can sell professionally arranged designs at much cheaper prices than a small florist shop like Bouquets Unlimited, which is sourcing high-quality flowers from all over the world — tulips from Holland, lilies from Canada, and hothouse beauties of all kinds from California, Idaho, Florida, Hawaii and more.
Brendle confronts the structural disadvantages in her industry every time she orders flowers from her Denver wholesaler. Her shop, even though it might order 5,000 roses every Valentine’s Day, is still a very small customer compared to the big chains who are buying tens of thousands.
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said. 
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said. 
Cheyenne’s Bouquets Unlimited is closing its doors after 44 years. Owner Shareen Brendle says the shop can’t compete with cheap grocery-store bouquets, online “order gatherers,” and big box chains undercutting wholesale prices. “I’m broken-hearted about it,” she said.
Order Gatherers 'Racket'
Brendle is also frustrated by so-called “order gatherers.” These are national call-center companies and websites that buy up florist-related domain names and search terms, and then impersonate local flower shops online.
“They’re not florists,” she said. “You’ve heard of Ava’s Flowers, From You Flowers, Ruth’s Roses … you look up a florist in whatever city and you’re always going to find them first because they own 99.9% of the domains, and it says they’re local and they deliver.”
But what actually happens when a customer places an order with them is much different than what a customer might imagine.
“They charge the customer at least $20 for a fee, then turn around and give it to a florist in that city,” Brendle said. “The florist gets half the money they charge the customer, and then the customer gets mad because they’re like, ‘I paid $100 and that is not a $100 bouquet.’”
When Brendle looks up the order, she can see the order she got was actually for a $40 bouquet.
“It’s a racket,” she said. “They promise the customer is going to get something that looks exactly like the picture they see online, and 90% of those pictures are photoshopped.
"There’s no way we could get a stem to go in that position in a vase like that. It’s utterly impossible. So it’s false promises straight across the board with these call centers.”
The Best And Worst Of Everyone’s Lives
Despite all the headwinds, Bouquets Unlimited has never lacked for talented, loyal employees.
Many of her staff have been with her for decades, including one employee who has been working alongside Brendle for the last 30 years.
“I’ve got another employee who’s been here for like 25 years, one for 16, one for eight,” she said. “It’s just been a wonderful place to work.”
Having customers come in and tell her that theirs was “the best flower shop” has meant the world to Brendle over the years.
It’s been a memorable ride, one that she feels has made the community better. When people can’t say it in words, they come to her store and she helps them say it with flowers.
She recalls customers moved to tears when they saw their wedding or funeral flowers for the first time, as well as the women who threw expensive bouquets into the trash immediately upon receiving them, because they were still mad about something.
Flower shops, she said, see the best and the very worst of people’s lives.
Keeping The Memories
As June approaches, Brendle is focusing on gratitude for her staff, her longtime customers, and for the many stolen years working alongside her mother.
“I’m so grateful for all of our customers and their patronage,” she said. “I’m just sad we’re letting them down. Actually, we’re not letting them down. The economy is letting them down.”
Brendle doesn’t plan to be idle with her time once the shop closes, however. She’s going to be helping her husband with his business, selling innovative exercise equipment to hospitals, therapy clinics, and home gyms.
No matter what comes next, a big part of her life will always be measured by the stems and petals of corsages and casket sprays, birthday bouquets and apology flowers from a small Cheyenne shop that was part of shaping and celebrating a community in ways she’ll never forget.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
