January 31, 2025 • 26 mins
What does it take to keep a family business thriving for over 75 years?
In this episode of Total Michigan, we step into the world of floristry with Mark Smith, third-generation owner of Smith’s Flowers & Gifts in Midland, Michigan. From its humble beginnings in 1947 to becoming a beloved community institution, Smith’s Flowers is a testament to resilience, innovation, and the enduring power of family legacy.
🌸 In this episode, you’ll discover:
- The secrets to a lasting family business – How Smith’s Flowers has navigated generational challenges and industry shifts.
- The art and emotion behind floristry – Why flowers are more than just decorations and how they mark life’s biggest moments.
- The power of reinvention – How Mark has embraced change, from sourcing global flowers to supporting local artists.
Join us for an inspiring conversation about passion, perseverance, and the ever-blooming journey of Smith’s Flowers & Gifts.
Links:
Smith's Flower and Gifts: http://smithsflowers.com/
2909 Ashman St., Midland, MI 48640 USA
📞 (989)-631-0470
Subscribe to our Email Newsletter: https://totalmichigan.com/join/
Find us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/totalmichigan
Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@totalmichigan
Show Notes:
00:00 Introduction
01:01 Meet Mark Smith: Owner of Smith's Flowers and Gifts
02:00 Unique Offerings and Local Art
03:26 Challenges and Family Dynamics
13:33 The Language of Flowers
20:06 Changes in the Floral Industry
22:45 Tips for Flower Care
25:00 Conclusion and Contact Information
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mark Smith (00:00):
I just enjoyed the, for lack of a better word, the trials.
And having to come up with creativeideas and a way to do things differently,
and interpret what the customer isactually saying, even though they don't
know what they're saying, makes sense.
And it just, the love of the, of thediversity that Flowers offer us and
(00:23):
the ability to change people's lives.
Cliff Duvernois (00:27):
Hello everyone.
And welcome back to Total Michigan,where we interview ordinary Michiganders
doing some pretty extraordinary things.
I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.
I'm actually really excited abouttoday's episode because we're getting
an opportunity to explore somethingthat we've never explored on the show.
We've covered restaurants andmuseums, and we've talked about
parks and everything else like that.
We have never once visited a florist.
(00:49):
And I'm in the city of Midland and ofcourse doing research in the area and
finding, businesses that have beenaround for a while, businesses that
are doing something absolutely uniqueis actually how I found today's guest.
And to help us unpack the veryinteresting story family story about
this business would be Mark Smith.
And he is the owner of Smith'sFlowers and Gifts located in Midland.
(01:13):
Mark, how are you?
I'm pretty good.
How are you?
I'm doing awesome.
Thank you for asking.
So why don't you tell us really quick,what is Smith's flowers and gifts?
Mark Smith (01:21):
In a nutshell, we're the oldest family owned florist in Michigan.
Well, maybe not Michigan,Midland for sure.
Maybe the Tri Cities.
And, uh, we started in 1947 and wemoved into this building in 1956.
And I'm third generation.
That puts us in the, 13thpercentile for survivors.
(01:44):
Yes, that's right.
And, my daughter is here also, and sheputs her in the third, three percent.
Which would be fourth generation.
Fourth generation, yeah.
We've been here going strongand doing it different.
I guess is a way to look at it.
Cliff Duvernois (02:00):
So here you sell flowers, but you also, it looks like
you have a bunch of like knickknacks.
Cause I saw like some reallynice wood carving coffee mugs.
Mark Smith (02:10):
Yep.
flowers and plants isthe bulk of the business.
And it didn't always used to be that way.
It used to be get diamonds and goldand all sorts of things, but most
of the merchandise or a good portionof the quote unquote merchandise is
on consignment from local artists.
Oh, okay.
Like all the wood and thepottery and all that is locally
(02:32):
made right here in Midland.
Most of it.
It's in here on consignment andcomes and changes all the time.
Comes and goes and right.
Goes from there.
And it was, I think we started preCOVID to give artists an outlet
because there was really no place.
I mean, you go to a, craft show orsomething and sell your stuff on
the weekend, but you don't have anyplace to display it where the public
(02:56):
just passes through constantly.
And it started out real small, gotreal big, and now it's leveled off to a
certain flow and it's been a good thinggoing both ways for us and for them.
Cliff Duvernois (03:09):
I'd like to explore that a little bit more, but before we
jump into that, why don't you tell usa little bit about where are you from?
Where did you grow up?
Mark Smith (03:16):
uh, born and raised in Midland.
Okay.
I've been here on that all my lifebecause I, I got fired a couple
of times and I quit a few times.
You mean you got fired from this shop?
Yeah.
My, you know, it's hard in afamily business is really tough.
Because it is, you have saytwo generations and they
(03:37):
bicker about how to do things.
When I started, I was a thirdgeneration in the building.
So my grandpa and I usedto butt heads all the time.
Oh, wow.
Cause I was always coming up withquicker, easier ways to do things.
And he was still stuck in the, no,we've always done it this way thing.
Cliff Duvernois (03:55):
Right.
Mark Smith (03:56):
And it was a challenge putting my dad in the middle between us.
I feel like play referee havingto pick sides and it didn't
work out real well a few times.
So yeah, I got, I gotfired a couple of times.
And I quit a couple oftimes and came back.
And I've been here basically 52 years.
Sweet Moses.
I'm only 70.
So, well, you still got a long ways to go.
(04:16):
I do.
I hope not.
I'm hoping I'm out of here soon, butit's a, it's a love hate relationship.
I mean, I love, I really love what we do.
Right.
being able to work withbasically God's paintbrushes.
Oh, that's beautiful.
I love that and makearrangements for other people.
And we cover all the, highs andlows of life, basically births
(04:38):
and deaths and of course, and allthat and everything in between.
Cliff Duvernois (04:41):
So that's interesting.
So you literally are a part of people'sjourney, whether it's buying them
something for like, let's say engagement,maybe actually earlier than that.
You're right.
Cause you before that, yeah.
Like prom.
Prom and high school kids comingin for prom and oh my goodness.
Yes.
Mark Smith (04:58):
Trying to get her to go on the first date.
Cliff Duvernois (05:00):
Trying, you know, make that first good impression
with the parents and stuff.
Showing up with the flowers.
Show up with flowers for mom, not for her.
Yes.
that's fast way for brownie points.
Yeah.
Mark Smith (05:10):
Yeah.
And it works.
I keep telling guys.
Trust me on this.
Just trust me because it does work.
Yeah.
I've got years of telling it,seeing it work, you know, it's
always interesting when they comeback and say, wow, you're right.
Cliff Duvernois (05:25):
Scored major brownie points.
Yeah.
Mark Smith (05:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we've been here, since 1947.
Cliff Duvernois (05:32):
Now this was something that your, you said your grandfather
and your father started this business.
Mark Smith (05:36):
Yeah.
Right after.
My, my grandpa worked in a bomber plantduring World War II, down in Detroit,
and they lived in Wayne, Michigan, onthe river, and he grew delphinium as a
hobby, and sold it to local flower shops.
And after the war got over, mygreat grandparents already lived
(06:01):
here in Michigan, or Midland.
they started looking around wantingto get out of Detroit, so on and
so forth, and, uh, decided to comeup here and start from scratch.
Right.
And that's what they did.
At the time, they were only thesecond flower shop in Midland.
They kind of got their start.
from the other flower shopsaying, Oh, we're too busy.
(06:22):
Go, go over to these guys.
And that's how it got started.
And then there was the Dow planecrash, which killed a lot of the Dow
family and stuff back in the day.
And that started the whole thinggoing, and that's how we got into with
Alden Dow to design this building.
Right.
Cause it, and that'sjust tumbled from there.
Cliff Duvernois (06:44):
Kept going.
For our audience, what he was talkingabout there for Alden Dow, we actually
have an episode coming up where we divea lot deeper into Alden Dow's background.
One of the famous architects.
Yes, that was worldwide,worldwide designed over 600
homes, buildings, whatever.
So that's, that's really amazing there.
Now, the question I got for you,because you were talking before about,
(07:05):
you know, your grandfather and yourfather starting this business, did
they ever say why they wanted to getinto, you know, Running a flower,
Mark Smith (07:13):
Not really.
That's kind of the, that's kind ofthe, um, shadowy area of the family.
We don't really know.
We don't really knowexactly why and how, right.
And I've asked my dad over the yearsa few times and it just, it blossomed
from, like I said, he was growingdelphinium and got out with forest
(07:34):
in the Southern part of the state.
And when they moved up here,it was just, A natural thing, I
guess, for them to continue on.
You know, My dad, myself, my grandpanever went to school for this business.
My grandma did as far as floraldesign goes, but then she
really didn't do any of it.
(07:56):
So she'd be the one to say, pointingout in the book, no, you do it this
way, It just blossomed from there.
It did.
Right.
There was no shining light moment that,okay, this is what we're going to do.
I think it just, happened.
Right.
So at that time we were the secondpoorest in town and, here ever since.
Actually back to Alden Dow, this wasthe first retail building he ever did.
(08:17):
So that's, and the first churchis right next door that he did.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah, we're right here in the same area.
Cliff Duvernois (08:25):
Yeah.
Because the one thing I, Ireally appreciate this store,
first off, is the size.
Right.
Yeah.
This place is huge.
It's big.
But the multi levels to it.
Again, usually when I see it goingto have like a floral shop, it's
very small, very small footprint.
Usually have some kind of a refrigeratedcase where they keep, primarily roses.
Yeah.
And that's it.
But here it's this place is big.
Mark Smith (08:46):
Yeah.
We're at, if you count all the floorsand everything, we're at 7, 500 square
feet, which is pretty good size forany retail establishment nowadays
that you're not in the mall, you know?
We are blessed to havethe space that we do.
It's a, it's a unique place.
I mean, how many other fishponds have you seen in indoors?
(09:07):
Right?
None.
And that's an original feature ofthe design, you know, that it's one
of the original, original features.
And they were weird back then.
They, this place was designedwith gravel floor, pea gravel.
Okay.
Downstairs on the first floor.
Yeah.
But if you think about back inthe fifties, all women wore high
(09:28):
heels all the time and walking ingravel just didn't make any sense.
And then there was supposed to bebird cages with parakeets around
the place and who wants to change.
Bird cages every day, all day,you know, so those two things got
scratched from the original plans.
(09:48):
and this is what we have.
And it's, it's changedsome over the years.
Um, I mean, this floor where we'resitting right now, we used to all be
diamonds and gold and in crystal, weused to pawn shopper, just a gold and
silver store or just retail retail.
Okay.
All right.
I mean, it was basicallybefore pawn shops.
Right.
Okay.
I know pawn shops have always beenaround, but no, this was straight retail.
(10:11):
We'd bring in diamonds and stuff outof New York and we used to carry 150
different patterns of dinnerware.
Oh, you know, back in the day whenbrides registered for, now they register
at Target or Home Depot or somewhere,they didn't go to a specialty store.
Correct.
Um, like I did back in the 60s and 70s.
(10:34):
And, uh, so that's changed some.
We got out of that part of it and focusedmore on the everyday life, you know.
Sure.
And after my dad retired and thingskept moving along and I pared it
down and went with my love, whichis the flowers and the plants.
And the rest of it I really don't.
(10:55):
Partake and that's, that'sother people's problem.
Cliff Duvernois (10:58):
So, so let me ask you this question here
because growing up, right?
So like you said, you got your grandfatherand your father's running the store.
You decided to jump intothe family business.
Why not do somethingeasier like brain surgery?
Mark Smith (11:09):
Well, it would have been actually, actually I did.
I thought, well, I'm going to do this.
And I, and I enlisted in the Navy.
Oh my goodness.
And talk about an adventure.
That was when I was 19.
And I thought I'm getting out of Midland.
I'm was this one of thetimes you got fired?
No, I got fired.
(11:30):
So I'm going to join the Navy.
This was just a.
I'm going to join theNavy and get out of here.
Okay.
Well, I qualified for a nuke subschool.
Ooh.
But then I got a medicaldischarge before I even got in.
And that was the end of that.
So I'm back here and I stayed forever since, you know, I've been.
(11:50):
Been here a long timeand I enjoy it every day.
I don't mind coming to work.
Cliff Duvernois (11:54):
So what is it in particular about flowers
that attracted you to them?
Mark Smith (12:03):
The fact that it's working with nature every day.
And I just enjoyed the, for lackof a better word, the trials.
And having to come up with creativeideas and a way to do things differently,
and interpret what the customer isactually saying, even though they don't
know what they're saying, makes sense.
(12:26):
And it just, the love of the, of thediversity that Flowers offer us and
the ability to change people's lives.
You know, and that's a big part of it.
doing the.
funerals for one.
it's a sad situation, butif you can make it better.
Cliff Duvernois (12:42):
There's something beautiful.
Big part of it.
Yes.
For our audience.
We're going to take a breakand thank our sponsors.
Once again, this is Cliff DuVernois.
You're listening to Total Michigan.
And with me today is Mark Smith of Smith'sFlowers and Gifts located in Midland,
and we will see you after the break.
Are you enjoying this episode?
Well, I can tell youthere's a lot more to come.
Jump over to TotalMichigan.
(13:03):
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Hello, everyone.
Welcome back to Total Michigan, wherewe interview ordinary Michiganders
(13:24):
doing some pretty extraordinary things.
I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.
Today, we're talking allthings flowers with Mark Smith.
He is the owner ofSmith's flowers and Gifts.
And Mark, I saw this in a movieonce and I always wondered if it
was true, but the characters in themovie were actually talking about how
there's like a language to flower.
So if you, for instance, because a lotof people think that if you want to say
(13:44):
I love you, you give them a rose, right?
Or, maybe, um, tulips have thisother message that can be sent.
Is there any truth to that at all?
Mark Smith (13:53):
Some some okay.
There's some truth to that.
Typically red roses are for love andyellow are for friendship white are
for purity and and so on and so forththen you get into daisies and iris
and tulips and whatnot in Most ofthem don't have a specific meaning.
Okay, except for the color of roses.
But the problem with that is I've gotthree or four different lists that
(14:16):
say three or four different things.
So you, it's whatever youneed it to say, right?
and go from there.
And people come in and they say,well, I want this, that, and the
other thing I said, well, it reallydoesn't go real well together.
You know, you don't wantto put red roses in with.
With, orange, whatever, you know,but that is changing nowadays.
(14:40):
People don't really pick that much,but when they come in and they explain
to you what they want and you try andinterpret what they want and they say,
no, no, no, it's not that, you know, andthen we come up with something that is
mutually agreeable and go from there.
So let's explore that a little bit.
Well, sometimes, sometimes you don'twant your name on stuff, right?
(15:00):
I don't want people to know it came fromhere, but right, it ends up happening.
Cliff Duvernois (15:06):
So let's talk about that a little bit for a second, because if
somebody does come through the door andthey're talking about feelings, do you
have something in your head where like,if somebody came in and said, Oh, you
know what, it's for a 50th anniversary,and the, the couple, they just moved to
Michigan or whatever it is, do you likein your head say, okay, so this is be,
this would be this kind of flower here.
And if it's because it's his50th, maybe we should look at.
(15:28):
this color here, do youdo any of that at all?
Or is it just, I mean,
Mark Smith (15:32):
okay.
50th anniversary is, is gold, right?
So the yellow roses or other yellowflowers typically then 25th is platinum.
So you'd go with white probably.
Other than that, I mean,Sweet 16 is pinks for girls.
Sure.
and not necessarily pink roses,but a combination of different
(15:53):
kinds of pink flowers, you know,to give it more, more of a modern.
Take on things, it's changedover the years where, yeah, a
dozen roses was really important.
Well, now it's not so much that it's moreof a variety of different things, right?
And the traditions have kindof just gone by the wayside,
Cliff Duvernois (16:13):
Now has anybody ever come in here and put something together
and you've worn them up and down leftand right That's gonna be hideous.
It's gonna be ugly.
I'm not gonna ask you to name any names.
Mark Smith (16:22):
No, I won't do that It's happened.
Yeah, I mean a lot of times we'rein a A good situation with our
customers for the most part.
I mean, I haven't been here so long,and I, and you keep getting new
customers, which is a blessing, butmost of our regulars, for lack of a
better term, just trust us to do whatwe think's best and go from there.
(16:44):
I would say 80 to 85 percentof our orders are open orders
that don't specify anything.
Oh, okay.
So we just do what welike and, it's worked out.
Cliff Duvernois (16:55):
Let's talk about the decision here, because I love
this before you were talking aboutit with, with your decision to
start bringing in local artists.
And having them display now, isthat something that you brought
in after your father retired?
Or was that something that's beena part of the store from the start?
Mark Smith (17:10):
No, it's only been since dad retired.
He's, he's been 95 next monthand, uh, he retired at 80.
So that was 15 years.
Well, no, 70, 25 years ago.
Cliff Duvernois (17:21):
Right.
Mark Smith (17:21):
it was a product born out of.
The economy how things were slowing downand slowing down, not because of COVID.
This is pre COVID right in, the housingcrunch, you know, eight stuff like that.
And people were notshopping like they used to.
And I had a few friends that wereartists, metal sculptors and stuff like
(17:43):
that, that we're having a hard time.
And we thought, well, let's do a collabhere and, bring, give them space.
You know, and it wasfilling up our shelves.
We didn't have to spend money on theinventory and we take just a percentage
and gave them space to do it too.
And it's worked outreally well since then.
So
Cliff Duvernois (18:02):
nice.
And one thing I do want to talk abouttoo is, you, you mentioned before
about like when your father retired.
Did he give you any advice whenyou started taking over the show?
Mark Smith (18:13):
You know, thinking back, I guess not really.
Cliff Duvernois (18:17):
Okay.
Mark Smith (18:18):
Because he gave me all that advice in the 25
years that we worked together.
Oh, there you go.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Having been in the same placefor so long together and.
Learning how to do things the wayhe did and then doing them my own
way and just that kind of justOverrode his ways over time, right?
(18:41):
It wasn't a drastic light switch moment.
Everything changed.
right and it started to evolve towhen I started hiring people To
work for me and not for him, right?
And it just evolved over a coupleof decades where it just washed
itself out and did it different.
Sure.
Just kind of carried on.
(19:03):
So we'd been moving right alongand, and now it's the same
thing with me and my daughter.
She's doing it different than I did, AndI kind of have to bite my tongue and say,
no, you can, you know, let her soar orfall one or the other on her own, you
know, and that's what happened to me.
And I made a lot of mistakes, butI also made some changes that were
good and it's all, we're still here.
(19:25):
So.
Plan to be here for anothergeneration, hopefully.
Be fun to be, because she's got threedaughters, so it'd be fun to have,
a fifth generation at some point.
You want to talk about rare,
Cliff Duvernois (19:38):
a fifth generation family owned
Mark Smith (19:39):
business.
I think there we're gettingdown to the half percent.
Somewhere in there.
Cliff Duvernois (19:45):
So she has expressed an interest in taking over the shop.
Yeah.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
Mark Smith (19:50):
She's, she's going to, I say I'm going to retire and I say I retired
four years ago, but I'm still here.
So
not as much as I used to be, but,at holidays, of course, but other
than that, one or two, three daysa week, that's about it for me.
But,
Cliff Duvernois (20:06):
you know, for the number of years that you've been
in your business, is there anythingthat really stands out to you as
like some of the biggest changesthat you've seen maybe in the, in
the floral business for us ourselves?
Mark Smith (20:17):
Yeah.
I mean, back in the day, a lot of thestuff product wise flower wise, was grown
in the U S and like back in the sixties.
And so can.
Colorado grew all the carnationsin the world, just about.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
You know, and that's diversified now.
We're, we get flowers in every day.
(20:39):
And Ecuador, Colombia, Peru,Italy, the Netherlands, of course.
That's mind blowing.
I did not know that was a thing.
Yeah.
It's an, it's a worldwidecommodity exchange, basically
in the flower business.
Cliff Duvernois (20:53):
Holy smokes.
So I gotta say this cause everywhereI've walked in here, the flowers
have been absolutely beautiful.
Somehow they make it to your store.
Somebody cuts them, picks them, whateverit is, puts them on an airplane.
Yep.
And they fly them here.
Yep.
And they still look this
good.
Mark Smith (21:10):
Into Miami.
Everything comes, everything fromSouth America comes in through Miami.
And we get a lot of California product.
We get a lot of our, the stuff that weuse here personally, we get out of Canada.
That's one thing that's changed over theyears where you're outsourcing or sourcing
product from all over the world, really,you know, it's always spring somewhere.
Cliff Duvernois (21:33):
It always is.
So let me see this question here.
Like what's the most exoticthing you got in the shore.
Mark Smith (21:40):
Today?
I would say it's probably the orchidsand stuff that we have downstairs,
but then there's like hydrangeas,which are one of my favorite.
Flowers to use, and that's what, that'sone of the bigger things that has changed
over the years product last so much betternow than it used to, because it's so taken
(22:02):
care of so much better in shipping andin processing when we get it, we're doing
stuff nowadays that we didn't do 10 yearsago and it just changes the longevity
for one, the variety that's available.
Cool.
For another, it gets maddening becauseI have suppliers that send me sheets
(22:22):
and there'll be 500 items on a sheet.
Well, I can't sort through that.
You want to have it back by two o'clockand it's 11 in the morning already, you
know, And there's just no way sometimes.
So you go with your standards,the things that you always have
Cliff Duvernois (22:35):
and your customers will love and
Mark Smith (22:38):
Stuff that you know that you're going to move.
And add in a few odds and ends hereand there to make it more interesting,
Cliff Duvernois (22:45):
So let me ask you this question here.
This was something that I experienceda handful of years ago, buying
just like a bouquet of flowers tosomething to put on a coffee table.
It looked beautiful, and I was shockedthat the display lasted as long as it did.
And I wish I knew what kind of magicwas used because I mean, it seems
like flowers after like a week orso would start to give out but.
(23:08):
These seem to last forever.
And then like, like maybe a week anda half, two weeks in, all of a sudden
these other flowers opened up and startedto bloom, which was like beautiful.
So if somebody had something intheir home, because you're talking
about the quality of the flowers, isthere anything that they can do to
like keep that quality looking good?
Mark Smith (23:24):
Well, yes, yes.
And no, the, the old rumors ofdropping a penny in a rose vase,
never heard that one doesn't work.
Okay.
Aspirin doesn't work.
it, it, a lot of it dependson the product, how it was,
taken care of in shipping.
Imagine it's picked in say Bogota, right?
(23:44):
Um, it's taken and put it in a box ina refrigerated truck goes from there
to the, from the farm to the airport,
From the airport.
It's on a refrigerated airplane to Miami.
So it gets unloaded in Miami.
And what if it sits on thetarmac for six or eight hours?
And it doesn't get right into the coolers.
Cliff Duvernois (24:05):
Yeah, especially on one of those 90, 100 super human days.
Right, so if that
Mark Smith (24:08):
happens to that, and we can tell when stuff comes in
if it's going to make it or not.
You know, And the other part of that wholeprocess is we use different processes,
not every flower shop uses that costus money out of our profit margin.
To take care of the flowers better.
And product is, developed over or haschanged over the years where we're
(24:34):
getting better stuff than we used to.
Nice.
And the longevity is, is waybetter than it used to be.
So yeah, if you can, if you cankeep it alive, I mean, a good thing
for a consumer to do is to mist it.
Just missed it with water.
They take water up the stems, butthey also absorb it out of the moat.
Oh, okay.
Atmosphere.
So in the winter time, yourfurnace is running all the time.
(24:57):
Your air is super dry.
Yeah, that makes a big difference.
Cliff Duvernois (25:01):
And Mark, if somebody is listening to this and they want
to come and check you out, find youonline, the socials, your website,
whatever it is, how can they find you?
Mark Smith (25:10):
Midland, Michigan, Ashburn Street, you can't miss
the big red building for one.
Um, our website smithsflowers.
com and then smithsofmidland onInstagram and wherever my daughter's got.
I don't even know where it's all at.
She's probably got ajillion photos up there.
It's everywhere, yeah.
Yes.
We're here all the time.
I mean, you can order onlineall, all day long, all night.
(25:32):
And we're here answeringthe phones every day.
So
Cliff Duvernois (25:36):
Yes, beautiful.
Mark, thank you so much fortaking time to chat with us today.
Really appreciate it.
Mark Smith (25:40):
Well, I appreciate you coming and finding me.
Cliff Duvernois (25:43):
And, uh, for our audience, we're going to
swirl on over to total michigan.
com and click on Mark's interviewand to get the links that he
mentioned above, order your flowers.
We'll see you next Valentine's is coming.
Valentine's is coming.
Yes.
We'll catch you next time when wetalk to another Michigander doing
some pretty extraordinary things.
We'll see you then.
I just enjoyed the, for lack of a better word, the trials.
And having to come up with creativeideas and a way to do things differently,
and interpret what the customer isactually saying, even though they don't
know what they're saying, makes sense.
And it just, the love of the, of thediversity that Flowers offer us and
(00:23):
the ability to change people's lives.
Cliff Duvernois (00:27):
Hello everyone.
And welcome back to Total Michigan,where we interview ordinary Michiganders
doing some pretty extraordinary things.
I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.
I'm actually really excited abouttoday's episode because we're getting
an opportunity to explore somethingthat we've never explored on the show.
We've covered restaurants andmuseums, and we've talked about
parks and everything else like that.
We have never once visited a florist.
(00:49):
And I'm in the city of Midland and ofcourse doing research in the area and
finding, businesses that have beenaround for a while, businesses that
are doing something absolutely uniqueis actually how I found today's guest.
And to help us unpack the veryinteresting story family story about
this business would be Mark Smith.
And he is the owner of Smith'sFlowers and Gifts located in Midland.
(01:13):
Mark, how are you?
I'm pretty good.
How are you?
I'm doing awesome.
Thank you for asking.
So why don't you tell us really quick,what is Smith's flowers and gifts?
Mark Smith (01:21):
In a nutshell, we're the oldest family owned florist in Michigan.
Well, maybe not Michigan,Midland for sure.
Maybe the Tri Cities.
And, uh, we started in 1947 and wemoved into this building in 1956.
And I'm third generation.
That puts us in the, 13thpercentile for survivors.
(01:44):
Yes, that's right.
And, my daughter is here also, and sheputs her in the third, three percent.
Which would be fourth generation.
Fourth generation, yeah.
We've been here going strongand doing it different.
I guess is a way to look at it.
Cliff Duvernois (02:00):
So here you sell flowers, but you also, it looks like
you have a bunch of like knickknacks.
Cause I saw like some reallynice wood carving coffee mugs.
Mark Smith (02:10):
Yep.
flowers and plants isthe bulk of the business.
And it didn't always used to be that way.
It used to be get diamonds and goldand all sorts of things, but most
of the merchandise or a good portionof the quote unquote merchandise is
on consignment from local artists.
Oh, okay.
Like all the wood and thepottery and all that is locally
(02:32):
made right here in Midland.
Most of it.
It's in here on consignment andcomes and changes all the time.
Comes and goes and right.
Goes from there.
And it was, I think we started preCOVID to give artists an outlet
because there was really no place.
I mean, you go to a, craft show orsomething and sell your stuff on
the weekend, but you don't have anyplace to display it where the public
(02:56):
just passes through constantly.
And it started out real small, gotreal big, and now it's leveled off to a
certain flow and it's been a good thinggoing both ways for us and for them.
Cliff Duvernois (03:09):
I'd like to explore that a little bit more, but before we
jump into that, why don't you tell usa little bit about where are you from?
Where did you grow up?
Mark Smith (03:16):
uh, born and raised in Midland.
Okay.
I've been here on that all my lifebecause I, I got fired a couple
of times and I quit a few times.
You mean you got fired from this shop?
Yeah.
My, you know, it's hard in afamily business is really tough.
Because it is, you have saytwo generations and they
(03:37):
bicker about how to do things.
When I started, I was a thirdgeneration in the building.
So my grandpa and I usedto butt heads all the time.
Oh, wow.
Cause I was always coming up withquicker, easier ways to do things.
And he was still stuck in the, no,we've always done it this way thing.
Cliff Duvernois (03:55):
Right.
Mark Smith (03:56):
And it was a challenge putting my dad in the middle between us.
I feel like play referee havingto pick sides and it didn't
work out real well a few times.
So yeah, I got, I gotfired a couple of times.
And I quit a couple oftimes and came back.
And I've been here basically 52 years.
Sweet Moses.
I'm only 70.
So, well, you still got a long ways to go.
(04:16):
I do.
I hope not.
I'm hoping I'm out of here soon, butit's a, it's a love hate relationship.
I mean, I love, I really love what we do.
Right.
being able to work withbasically God's paintbrushes.
Oh, that's beautiful.
I love that and makearrangements for other people.
And we cover all the, highs andlows of life, basically births
(04:38):
and deaths and of course, and allthat and everything in between.
Cliff Duvernois (04:41):
So that's interesting.
So you literally are a part of people'sjourney, whether it's buying them
something for like, let's say engagement,maybe actually earlier than that.
You're right.
Cause you before that, yeah.
Like prom.
Prom and high school kids comingin for prom and oh my goodness.
Yes.
Mark Smith (04:58):
Trying to get her to go on the first date.
Cliff Duvernois (05:00):
Trying, you know, make that first good impression
with the parents and stuff.
Showing up with the flowers.
Show up with flowers for mom, not for her.
Yes.
that's fast way for brownie points.
Yeah.
Mark Smith (05:10):
Yeah.
And it works.
I keep telling guys.
Trust me on this.
Just trust me because it does work.
Yeah.
I've got years of telling it,seeing it work, you know, it's
always interesting when they comeback and say, wow, you're right.
Cliff Duvernois (05:25):
Scored major brownie points.
Yeah.
Mark Smith (05:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we've been here, since 1947.
Cliff Duvernois (05:32):
Now this was something that your, you said your grandfather
and your father started this business.
Mark Smith (05:36):
Yeah.
Right after.
My, my grandpa worked in a bomber plantduring World War II, down in Detroit,
and they lived in Wayne, Michigan, onthe river, and he grew delphinium as a
hobby, and sold it to local flower shops.
And after the war got over, mygreat grandparents already lived
(06:01):
here in Michigan, or Midland.
they started looking around wantingto get out of Detroit, so on and
so forth, and, uh, decided to comeup here and start from scratch.
Right.
And that's what they did.
At the time, they were only thesecond flower shop in Midland.
They kind of got their start.
from the other flower shopsaying, Oh, we're too busy.
(06:22):
Go, go over to these guys.
And that's how it got started.
And then there was the Dow planecrash, which killed a lot of the Dow
family and stuff back in the day.
And that started the whole thinggoing, and that's how we got into with
Alden Dow to design this building.
Right.
Cause it, and that'sjust tumbled from there.
Cliff Duvernois (06:44):
Kept going.
For our audience, what he was talkingabout there for Alden Dow, we actually
have an episode coming up where we divea lot deeper into Alden Dow's background.
One of the famous architects.
Yes, that was worldwide,worldwide designed over 600
homes, buildings, whatever.
So that's, that's really amazing there.
Now, the question I got for you,because you were talking before about,
(07:05):
you know, your grandfather and yourfather starting this business, did
they ever say why they wanted to getinto, you know, Running a flower,
Mark Smith (07:13):
Not really.
That's kind of the, that's kind ofthe, um, shadowy area of the family.
We don't really know.
We don't really knowexactly why and how, right.
And I've asked my dad over the yearsa few times and it just, it blossomed
from, like I said, he was growingdelphinium and got out with forest
(07:34):
in the Southern part of the state.
And when they moved up here,it was just, A natural thing, I
guess, for them to continue on.
You know, My dad, myself, my grandpanever went to school for this business.
My grandma did as far as floraldesign goes, but then she
really didn't do any of it.
(07:56):
So she'd be the one to say, pointingout in the book, no, you do it this
way, It just blossomed from there.
It did.
Right.
There was no shining light moment that,okay, this is what we're going to do.
I think it just, happened.
Right.
So at that time we were the secondpoorest in town and, here ever since.
Actually back to Alden Dow, this wasthe first retail building he ever did.
(08:17):
So that's, and the first churchis right next door that he did.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah, we're right here in the same area.
Cliff Duvernois (08:25):
Yeah.
Because the one thing I, Ireally appreciate this store,
first off, is the size.
Right.
Yeah.
This place is huge.
It's big.
But the multi levels to it.
Again, usually when I see it goingto have like a floral shop, it's
very small, very small footprint.
Usually have some kind of a refrigeratedcase where they keep, primarily roses.
Yeah.
And that's it.
But here it's this place is big.
Mark Smith (08:46):
Yeah.
We're at, if you count all the floorsand everything, we're at 7, 500 square
feet, which is pretty good size forany retail establishment nowadays
that you're not in the mall, you know?
We are blessed to havethe space that we do.
It's a, it's a unique place.
I mean, how many other fishponds have you seen in indoors?
(09:07):
Right?
None.
And that's an original feature ofthe design, you know, that it's one
of the original, original features.
And they were weird back then.
They, this place was designedwith gravel floor, pea gravel.
Okay.
Downstairs on the first floor.
Yeah.
But if you think about back inthe fifties, all women wore high
(09:28):
heels all the time and walking ingravel just didn't make any sense.
And then there was supposed to bebird cages with parakeets around
the place and who wants to change.
Bird cages every day, all day,you know, so those two things got
scratched from the original plans.
(09:48):
and this is what we have.
And it's, it's changedsome over the years.
Um, I mean, this floor where we'resitting right now, we used to all be
diamonds and gold and in crystal, weused to pawn shopper, just a gold and
silver store or just retail retail.
Okay.
All right.
I mean, it was basicallybefore pawn shops.
Right.
Okay.
I know pawn shops have always beenaround, but no, this was straight retail.
(10:11):
We'd bring in diamonds and stuff outof New York and we used to carry 150
different patterns of dinnerware.
Oh, you know, back in the day whenbrides registered for, now they register
at Target or Home Depot or somewhere,they didn't go to a specialty store.
Correct.
Um, like I did back in the 60s and 70s.
(10:34):
And, uh, so that's changed some.
We got out of that part of it and focusedmore on the everyday life, you know.
Sure.
And after my dad retired and thingskept moving along and I pared it
down and went with my love, whichis the flowers and the plants.
And the rest of it I really don't.
(10:55):
Partake and that's, that'sother people's problem.
Cliff Duvernois (10:58):
So, so let me ask you this question here
because growing up, right?
So like you said, you got your grandfatherand your father's running the store.
You decided to jump intothe family business.
Why not do somethingeasier like brain surgery?
Mark Smith (11:09):
Well, it would have been actually, actually I did.
I thought, well, I'm going to do this.
And I, and I enlisted in the Navy.
Oh my goodness.
And talk about an adventure.
That was when I was 19.
And I thought I'm getting out of Midland.
I'm was this one of thetimes you got fired?
No, I got fired.
(11:30):
So I'm going to join the Navy.
This was just a.
I'm going to join theNavy and get out of here.
Okay.
Well, I qualified for a nuke subschool.
Ooh.
But then I got a medicaldischarge before I even got in.
And that was the end of that.
So I'm back here and I stayed forever since, you know, I've been.
(11:50):
Been here a long timeand I enjoy it every day.
I don't mind coming to work.
Cliff Duvernois (11:54):
So what is it in particular about flowers
that attracted you to them?
Mark Smith (12:03):
The fact that it's working with nature every day.
And I just enjoyed the, for lackof a better word, the trials.
And having to come up with creativeideas and a way to do things differently,
and interpret what the customer isactually saying, even though they don't
know what they're saying, makes sense.
(12:26):
And it just, the love of the, of thediversity that Flowers offer us and
the ability to change people's lives.
You know, and that's a big part of it.
doing the.
funerals for one.
it's a sad situation, butif you can make it better.
Cliff Duvernois (12:42):
There's something beautiful.
Big part of it.
Yes.
For our audience.
We're going to take a breakand thank our sponsors.
Once again, this is Cliff DuVernois.
You're listening to Total Michigan.
And with me today is Mark Smith of Smith'sFlowers and Gifts located in Midland,
and we will see you after the break.
Are you enjoying this episode?
Well, I can tell youthere's a lot more to come.
Jump over to TotalMichigan.
(13:03):
com, enter your email address,and get on our mailing list.
You'll get a list of the topfive episodes for the show.
Along with that, you'll getall kinds of behind the scenes
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Just go over to TotalMichigan.
com, enter your email address today.
Hello, everyone.
Welcome back to Total Michigan, wherewe interview ordinary Michiganders
(13:24):
doing some pretty extraordinary things.
I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.
Today, we're talking allthings flowers with Mark Smith.
He is the owner ofSmith's flowers and Gifts.
And Mark, I saw this in a movieonce and I always wondered if it
was true, but the characters in themovie were actually talking about how
there's like a language to flower.
So if you, for instance, because a lotof people think that if you want to say
(13:44):
I love you, you give them a rose, right?
Or, maybe, um, tulips have thisother message that can be sent.
Is there any truth to that at all?
Mark Smith (13:53):
Some some okay.
There's some truth to that.
Typically red roses are for love andyellow are for friendship white are
for purity and and so on and so forththen you get into daisies and iris
and tulips and whatnot in Most ofthem don't have a specific meaning.
Okay, except for the color of roses.
But the problem with that is I've gotthree or four different lists that
(14:16):
say three or four different things.
So you, it's whatever youneed it to say, right?
and go from there.
And people come in and they say,well, I want this, that, and the
other thing I said, well, it reallydoesn't go real well together.
You know, you don't wantto put red roses in with.
With, orange, whatever, you know,but that is changing nowadays.
(14:40):
People don't really pick that much,but when they come in and they explain
to you what they want and you try andinterpret what they want and they say,
no, no, no, it's not that, you know, andthen we come up with something that is
mutually agreeable and go from there.
So let's explore that a little bit.
Well, sometimes, sometimes you don'twant your name on stuff, right?
(15:00):
I don't want people to know it came fromhere, but right, it ends up happening.
Cliff Duvernois (15:06):
So let's talk about that a little bit for a second, because if
somebody does come through the door andthey're talking about feelings, do you
have something in your head where like,if somebody came in and said, Oh, you
know what, it's for a 50th anniversary,and the, the couple, they just moved to
Michigan or whatever it is, do you likein your head say, okay, so this is be,
this would be this kind of flower here.
And if it's because it's his50th, maybe we should look at.
(15:28):
this color here, do youdo any of that at all?
Or is it just, I mean,
Mark Smith (15:32):
okay.
50th anniversary is, is gold, right?
So the yellow roses or other yellowflowers typically then 25th is platinum.
So you'd go with white probably.
Other than that, I mean,Sweet 16 is pinks for girls.
Sure.
and not necessarily pink roses,but a combination of different
(15:53):
kinds of pink flowers, you know,to give it more, more of a modern.
Take on things, it's changedover the years where, yeah, a
dozen roses was really important.
Well, now it's not so much that it's moreof a variety of different things, right?
And the traditions have kindof just gone by the wayside,
Cliff Duvernois (16:13):
Now has anybody ever come in here and put something together
and you've worn them up and down leftand right That's gonna be hideous.
It's gonna be ugly.
I'm not gonna ask you to name any names.
Mark Smith (16:22):
No, I won't do that It's happened.
Yeah, I mean a lot of times we'rein a A good situation with our
customers for the most part.
I mean, I haven't been here so long,and I, and you keep getting new
customers, which is a blessing, butmost of our regulars, for lack of a
better term, just trust us to do whatwe think's best and go from there.
(16:44):
I would say 80 to 85 percentof our orders are open orders
that don't specify anything.
Oh, okay.
So we just do what welike and, it's worked out.
Cliff Duvernois (16:55):
Let's talk about the decision here, because I love
this before you were talking aboutit with, with your decision to
start bringing in local artists.
And having them display now, isthat something that you brought
in after your father retired?
Or was that something that's beena part of the store from the start?
Mark Smith (17:10):
No, it's only been since dad retired.
He's, he's been 95 next monthand, uh, he retired at 80.
So that was 15 years.
Well, no, 70, 25 years ago.
Cliff Duvernois (17:21):
Right.
Mark Smith (17:21):
it was a product born out of.
The economy how things were slowing downand slowing down, not because of COVID.
This is pre COVID right in, the housingcrunch, you know, eight stuff like that.
And people were notshopping like they used to.
And I had a few friends that wereartists, metal sculptors and stuff like
(17:43):
that, that we're having a hard time.
And we thought, well, let's do a collabhere and, bring, give them space.
You know, and it wasfilling up our shelves.
We didn't have to spend money on theinventory and we take just a percentage
and gave them space to do it too.
And it's worked outreally well since then.
So
Cliff Duvernois (18:02):
nice.
And one thing I do want to talk abouttoo is, you, you mentioned before
about like when your father retired.
Did he give you any advice whenyou started taking over the show?
Mark Smith (18:13):
You know, thinking back, I guess not really.
Cliff Duvernois (18:17):
Okay.
Mark Smith (18:18):
Because he gave me all that advice in the 25
years that we worked together.
Oh, there you go.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Having been in the same placefor so long together and.
Learning how to do things the wayhe did and then doing them my own
way and just that kind of justOverrode his ways over time, right?
(18:41):
It wasn't a drastic light switch moment.
Everything changed.
right and it started to evolve towhen I started hiring people To
work for me and not for him, right?
And it just evolved over a coupleof decades where it just washed
itself out and did it different.
Sure.
Just kind of carried on.
(19:03):
So we'd been moving right alongand, and now it's the same
thing with me and my daughter.
She's doing it different than I did, AndI kind of have to bite my tongue and say,
no, you can, you know, let her soar orfall one or the other on her own, you
know, and that's what happened to me.
And I made a lot of mistakes, butI also made some changes that were
good and it's all, we're still here.
(19:25):
So.
Plan to be here for anothergeneration, hopefully.
Be fun to be, because she's got threedaughters, so it'd be fun to have,
a fifth generation at some point.
You want to talk about rare,
Cliff Duvernois (19:38):
a fifth generation family owned
Mark Smith (19:39):
business.
I think there we're gettingdown to the half percent.
Somewhere in there.
Cliff Duvernois (19:45):
So she has expressed an interest in taking over the shop.
Yeah.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
Mark Smith (19:50):
She's, she's going to, I say I'm going to retire and I say I retired
four years ago, but I'm still here.
So
not as much as I used to be, but,at holidays, of course, but other
than that, one or two, three daysa week, that's about it for me.
But,
Cliff Duvernois (20:06):
you know, for the number of years that you've been
in your business, is there anythingthat really stands out to you as
like some of the biggest changesthat you've seen maybe in the, in
the floral business for us ourselves?
Mark Smith (20:17):
Yeah.
I mean, back in the day, a lot of thestuff product wise flower wise, was grown
in the U S and like back in the sixties.
And so can.
Colorado grew all the carnationsin the world, just about.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
You know, and that's diversified now.
We're, we get flowers in every day.
(20:39):
And Ecuador, Colombia, Peru,Italy, the Netherlands, of course.
That's mind blowing.
I did not know that was a thing.
Yeah.
It's an, it's a worldwidecommodity exchange, basically
in the flower business.
Cliff Duvernois (20:53):
Holy smokes.
So I gotta say this cause everywhereI've walked in here, the flowers
have been absolutely beautiful.
Somehow they make it to your store.
Somebody cuts them, picks them, whateverit is, puts them on an airplane.
Yep.
And they fly them here.
Yep.
And they still look this
good.
Mark Smith (21:10):
Into Miami.
Everything comes, everything fromSouth America comes in through Miami.
And we get a lot of California product.
We get a lot of our, the stuff that weuse here personally, we get out of Canada.
That's one thing that's changed over theyears where you're outsourcing or sourcing
product from all over the world, really,you know, it's always spring somewhere.
Cliff Duvernois (21:33):
It always is.
So let me see this question here.
Like what's the most exoticthing you got in the shore.
Mark Smith (21:40):
Today?
I would say it's probably the orchidsand stuff that we have downstairs,
but then there's like hydrangeas,which are one of my favorite.
Flowers to use, and that's what, that'sone of the bigger things that has changed
over the years product last so much betternow than it used to, because it's so taken
(22:02):
care of so much better in shipping andin processing when we get it, we're doing
stuff nowadays that we didn't do 10 yearsago and it just changes the longevity
for one, the variety that's available.
Cool.
For another, it gets maddening becauseI have suppliers that send me sheets
(22:22):
and there'll be 500 items on a sheet.
Well, I can't sort through that.
You want to have it back by two o'clockand it's 11 in the morning already, you
know, And there's just no way sometimes.
So you go with your standards,the things that you always have
Cliff Duvernois (22:35):
and your customers will love and
Mark Smith (22:38):
Stuff that you know that you're going to move.
And add in a few odds and ends hereand there to make it more interesting,
Cliff Duvernois (22:45):
So let me ask you this question here.
This was something that I experienceda handful of years ago, buying
just like a bouquet of flowers tosomething to put on a coffee table.
It looked beautiful, and I was shockedthat the display lasted as long as it did.
And I wish I knew what kind of magicwas used because I mean, it seems
like flowers after like a week orso would start to give out but.
(23:08):
These seem to last forever.
And then like, like maybe a week anda half, two weeks in, all of a sudden
these other flowers opened up and startedto bloom, which was like beautiful.
So if somebody had something intheir home, because you're talking
about the quality of the flowers, isthere anything that they can do to
like keep that quality looking good?
Mark Smith (23:24):
Well, yes, yes.
And no, the, the old rumors ofdropping a penny in a rose vase,
never heard that one doesn't work.
Okay.
Aspirin doesn't work.
it, it, a lot of it dependson the product, how it was,
taken care of in shipping.
Imagine it's picked in say Bogota, right?
(23:44):
Um, it's taken and put it in a box ina refrigerated truck goes from there
to the, from the farm to the airport,
From the airport.
It's on a refrigerated airplane to Miami.
So it gets unloaded in Miami.
And what if it sits on thetarmac for six or eight hours?
And it doesn't get right into the coolers.
Cliff Duvernois (24:05):
Yeah, especially on one of those 90, 100 super human days.
Right, so if that
Mark Smith (24:08):
happens to that, and we can tell when stuff comes in
if it's going to make it or not.
You know, And the other part of that wholeprocess is we use different processes,
not every flower shop uses that costus money out of our profit margin.
To take care of the flowers better.
And product is, developed over or haschanged over the years where we're
(24:34):
getting better stuff than we used to.
Nice.
And the longevity is, is waybetter than it used to be.
So yeah, if you can, if you cankeep it alive, I mean, a good thing
for a consumer to do is to mist it.
Just missed it with water.
They take water up the stems, butthey also absorb it out of the moat.
Oh, okay.
Atmosphere.
So in the winter time, yourfurnace is running all the time.
(24:57):
Your air is super dry.
Yeah, that makes a big difference.
Cliff Duvernois (25:01):
And Mark, if somebody is listening to this and they want
to come and check you out, find youonline, the socials, your website,
whatever it is, how can they find you?
Mark Smith (25:10):
Midland, Michigan, Ashburn Street, you can't miss
the big red building for one.
Um, our website smithsflowers.
com and then smithsofmidland onInstagram and wherever my daughter's got.
I don't even know where it's all at.
She's probably got ajillion photos up there.
It's everywhere, yeah.
Yes.
We're here all the time.
I mean, you can order onlineall, all day long, all night.
(25:32):
And we're here answeringthe phones every day.
So
Cliff Duvernois (25:36):
Yes, beautiful.
Mark, thank you so much fortaking time to chat with us today.
Really appreciate it.
Mark Smith (25:40):
Well, I appreciate you coming and finding me.
Cliff Duvernois (25:43):
And, uh, for our audience, we're going to
swirl on over to total michigan.
com and click on Mark's interviewand to get the links that he
mentioned above, order your flowers.
We'll see you next Valentine's is coming.
Valentine's is coming.
Yes.
We'll catch you next time when wetalk to another Michigander doing
some pretty extraordinary things.
We'll see you then.
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