In December 1990 Celine Keane opened her flower business in Village Green in Tallaght. Celine commented “I opened my doors in Village green on the 15th of December 1990 the same year The Square opened their doors and all the hype locally was about The Square. They were challenging times! I was determined to make my business work. I worked long hours and always paid attention to excellent customer service and a quality product which I think attributes for my flower business surviving in Village Green for the past three decades”.
In the last 30 years, the running of the business has changed, Celine added “I have seen a lot of changes in how I have run my business. In the 90s there was no internet and social media so you relied on footfall and word of mouth. Then in the dot com era I set up my first website www.irishflowershops.com I would say it is only in the past 10 years there has been a steady growth with online sales and especially in 2020 when internet sales have really grown. Earlier this year I launched www.wedding-flowers.ie and with the wedding business virtually nonexistent, hopefully 2021 will see couples celebrating their weddings again.”
Celine continued “2020 has probably been my most challenging year of the 30 years of Celines Flowers & Gifts in Village Green I was forced to close my doors in March. At first we all thought Covid-19 would blow over in a few weeks and unfortunately this was not the case. With a heavy heart I have made the decision not to reopen my doors this Christmas. I worry about bringing the virus home to more vulnerable members of my family and one thing 2020 has taught me is ‘Never take anything for granted and appreciate in life is life its self’ Hopefully when we all get the vaccine sometime very soon I can come back to retail as I miss the interaction and banter with customers. Since March 2020 I have been working from my studio at home and customers can call me or order online for our delivery service. To receive a flower gift by delivery is special when they are least expecting it. I will continue to offer a delivery only service over Christmas and hopefully 2021 I will be back in retail enjoying the chats with customers and full service can return.”
“Every Friday for the past 2 months I have been gifting 5 random people a bouquet in Tallaght and the only catch is you have to regift the bouquet to someone. The reaction has been phenomenal. Joe Duffy live line interviewed me when he heard what I was doing and asked me why? To that I said “people need a lift in these dark times and it is my little way to make 10 people smile each week”. To date I have gifted for free 50 bouquets so that should be 100 people who have smiled and spread a pandemic of kindness around Tallaght. I would like to thank all my customers for their continued custom and wish everyone a safe Christmas. And to all those families who lost loved ones in 2020 my thoughts and prayers are with you”, Celine concluded. For more information visit www.irishflowershops.com or www.wedding-flowers.ieTo order you can call 01 4527272 or whatsapp 00353868934893.
