A local flower shop is budding in the city of Detroit. What started off as a hobby has quickly grown into a lucrative business supplying floral arrangements for everything from birthdays to weddings. With its roots firmly planted in Detroit, this flower shop is becoming the city’s go-to for unique floral designs and custom orders.
Detroit Flower Company, launched in 2018 as a means of earning extra income, soon took off quicker than founder Ja’Nye Hampton could have ever imagined. Working on floral arrangements part-time, Hampton began working at a flower shop in high school. Offered the opportunity to learn more about floral arrangements and design, customers soon helped the growing artist to see a future in bloom.
“It came to a point where I was good at it and customers would come in and ask for me and they would come in and see me. I saw I was creative and that I wanted to take it up a notch,” Hampton says.
Still using flowers as a side job, Hampton began working as a personal trainer. Soon, there would be no denying flowers would become a more permanent avenue.
“Detroit Flower Company started off as a hobby and it’s turned into something so magical,” Hampton says.
Gaining popularity on social media, in under a year the flower company grew from 700 followers to just over 18,000 on Instagram. With Twitter being one of the main forces behind the brand’s notoriety, fans quickly began shopping with the floral depot for its colorful and bold arrangements. Becoming the premier spot amongst the city’s millennials, Detroit Flower Company is more than its name, its spreading positivity throughout the city.
“I feel like I’m bringing a lot of what is needed in Detroit right now and that’s a lot of love, a lot of genuine love,” Hampton says.
The 22-year-old entrepreneur and graduate of Cass Technical High School wakes up each morning at 5:30 a.m. to prep for the day. Working until late in the evening alongside employees, the flower founder was dedicating her all to the business in 2020.
“Flowers make me feel stable. It makes me feel like people love me for this,” Hampton explains. “It’s a healing property. It’s an experience.”
Now, with a growing empire, Detroit Flower Company has a warehouse, employees and a sprouting future. Opening a store location in February 2021, the floral team was able to fulfill hundreds of orders for one of the biggest flower days of the year, Valentine’s Day.
“Our very first Valentine’s Day we made about $1,000, which is pretty good for a business that I didn’t put my all into. Last year, we made about $5,000 and I was a full-time personal trainer working at two restaurants and two gyms. This year, we had to stop our Valentine’s Day orders. It was constant orders all day,” Hampton says.
Despite the highs of the flower shop, balancing professional and personal can prove challenging for any business owner. However, this may especially be the case when the business owner has just celebrated their 22nd birthday. Age aside, continuing to build the empire and expanding the brand’s name in Detroit and beyond is the goal.
“I’m regrouping and trying to restructure everything and build the business from the ground up. Every penny went back into the business. I’m just trying to figure out how to move forward,” Hampton says.
Wanting customers to gain an inside track into the everyday workings of the business, Hampton is sure to post the highs and lows of running a flourishing small business. Creating transparency between the brand and consumers through social media posts, she is able to show a behind-the-scenes look of the creation process.
“I try to keep it as raw and as real as possible because most entrepreneurs don’t. I like to show the struggle [along with] the good,” Hampton shares.
Being a young business owner comes with its own set of challenges. However, for this owner, with the love of her city to guide her, providing quality customer service and fresh flowers is the name of the game.
“We are working. We are working so hard behind the scenes to get quick, easy, accessible Detroit Flower bouquets to everybody,” Hampton says.
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