Soho Rose Farm founder and florist Kristy Tippett noticed a mantra that kept popping up in her daily conversations: ‘buy local, buy seasonal’.
Before last year, her farm had historically only sold direct to florists. But after losing most of her wholesale business to lockdowns amid the pandemic, her own words triggered a ‘light bulb moment’ that pushed her to do a pop-up store. The event was so successful, it led her to leasing her own permanent retail space, Windflower!
‘We were really just dipping our toes in the water, and people turned up with such enthusiasm,’ Kristy explains. ‘New customers kept asking us to stay and the seed was planted.’
‘I realised that many people who are not in the flower industry are not aware what actually is seasonal and local when they visit a florist shop, so we committed to opening an entirely local and seasonal florist shop.’
Every time a customer steps inside the colourful walls of Windflower, they get to experience exactly what Kristy means by, ‘buy local, buy seasonal’ through her range of the season’s best blooms and thoughtful lifestyle products.
Some of the store’s gems include Geelong Weaving Mills blanket that are perfect for winter, Ella Reweti vases to showcase the store’s magical cut flowers, and Bonnie and Neil’s latest collection of homewares!
The store’s design was a joint effort by local creative Callum Preston and Candy MT florists Meg and Morgana. Callum sourced the majority of the materials for the project from his previous jobs, and given the shop was actually an old Flight Center previously, it’s come a long way!
‘For the store, my brief was just something that said “not your traditional gift or florist shop”,’ Kristy explains. ‘As we knew we wanted to plan more workshops, many of the pieces are modular and can be moved around easily to accommodate the needs of each day.’
Kristy hopes Windflower will become a space for the community to support local growers, shop for new treasures and most of all: talk flowers.
Learn more about Windflower and online shop here, or visit the store at 415 Sturt Street, Ballarat.
