Spruce Flowers Opening 50th and France Doors by Next Week

Spruce Flowers & Home is on the cusp of opening a second location in Edina's 50th and France district.

The store's owner, Amy Backman, said that she was just waiting for a refrigeration unit and the doors should be open by late this week or early next week.

We spoke with Backman about her floral background and her plans for the 4940 France Ave. location.

What will the store look like?

We currently have a location on 48th and Chicago, so it will be a similar kind of concept. When we opened the Chicago location a few years ago, we wanted to bring floral design to the forefront rather than having designers in the basement or in a backroom where nobody got to interact and see the flowers. We’ll place a flower cooler into the front window that faces France Avenue, so when people walk by or drive by they’ll be able to see all of the different flowers. We’ll also have a walk-in cooler that people can get inspired by and help select and help create designs for people they want to send flowers to.

It’s a very narrow space. We have home products. We have higher end fragrance. We have a brand by Christian Tortu; he’s a French floral designer and he’s developed these really beautiful floral fragrances.  We also do modern home accessories, vases, terrariums, and then indoor green plants.

What’s your background in the industry?

I grew up working in flower shops during high school and college, and I went on to be a buyer for Bachman’s and Room and Board and then I worked in marketing and product development. But I’d always wanted to go back to floral design and wanted to have my own shop someday, and then three-and-a-half years ago, we made it happen, right in the middle of the recession. It was like, ‘Oh, what the heck, let’s try and see what happens.’

How did you pick the Edina location?