Press Release

Mountain View Telegraph Dec 17, 2009


Flower Shop is Woman's Labor of Love

What About the Flowers?
has been E. Mountains mainstay for 3 years

By Rory McClannahan
Mountain View Telegraph

  People are usually happy when they see Stephanie James on their doorstep, mostly because she's usually got a bouquet of flowers for them.

  James, the owner of What About the Flowers? in Cedar Crest, runs her shop with low overhead, which means she's the one who normally delivers the orders to homes and businesses throughout the East Mountains and Estancia Valley.
  "The most gratifying part of this job is when people open their door and see a bouquet of flowers for them." James said. "There's great satisfaction in brightening someone's day with an arrangement that I did."

  What About the Flowers? recently celebrated three years in business in the small shopping center behind the Shell gas station at Frost Road and N. M. 14, James said. The shop, she said, is a labor of love.

  James explained that she has been working in the floral industry for more than 20 years, but mostly in shops in Albuquerque.  "I've been doing this since I was in high school," she says, "I can't imagine doing anything else." In the numerous places she has worked in Albuquerque, she had become known as the person who would deliver the the East Mountains, mostly because it's where she lives, but also because she loves the area.

  Several years ago, she decided it was time to make the move to open her own shop, and there was only one location in mind - the East Mountains. "Its an area, I think, that was being under served." she said.

  Her shop offers a full range of flowers, of coarse, but also a good selection of gifts. Most items, such as arts and crafts and paintings, are produced by local artisans. The store is part of the Flower Shop Network, which means you can place an order to go most anywhere in the world, from her store or from her website, she said.

  Although James says she enjoys working on small orders, she says she does her best working on weddings and funerals. "Those are times when everything has to be just right," which, she says, plays well into her perfectionist tendencies. "Weddings are especially fun and gratifying," she said.

  What About the Flowers? is a one-person operation, but James said she gets help from her brother and mother on occasion. And of coarse there is the help Lucy, a 2 year Mini Australian Shepard, offers. Lucy's job seems to be checking out the customers as they come through the door. Some might get a suspicious look from the dog with one blue eye, but it doesn't take long before Lucy convinces most patrons to give her a scratch behind the ears."Not long after opening, I decided that I didn't want to be at the shop alone, so I went out and got Lucy," James said. "We work well together."