May 10, 2021

Here’s a sign your newest business venture could be headed for success: You run out of product halfway through opening weekend.

“It’s a great problem to have, but I was not expecting to have to replace everything,” said Katie Murphy, who owns Jane Rae Events and launched The Bouquet Bar over the weekend.

By Saturday afternoon, Bouquet Bar manager Irany Caro had already restocked flowers multiple times, with one more day left to go.

The Bouquet Bar, which is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday inside the Jane Rae space at 301 S. Minnesota Ave., offers custom bouquets selected by guests.

“It’s a very West and East coast thing,” Murphy said. “There’s a lot of flower shops, but (this is) more customized to you and what you want. We wanted people to have more of an experience picking out flowers.”

Based on the early response, “we’re realizing this is just a start,” she added. “We probably need to make it double the size because we got great feedback in a short time.”

She’s looking at ways to take the concept mobile for events at some point and partner with other small businesses.

Murphy began the event business four years ago and moved into her location three years ago. It’s generally a showroom and meeting space for the event business, which has been busy with weddings. She has 143 booked through the end of this year.

“It’s booming right now,” she said. “Everybody wants to get out and celebrate. Even last year, people still celebrated, but it was just a lot smaller. They went bigger because they were able to with a smaller guest count, so they spent more on centerpieces and backdrops.”

Jane Rae Events is a full-service wedding planning and design business that includes more specialty items, she said.

That means there are plenty of flowers around anyway, making The Bouquet Bar a natural addition.

Her strategy for opening weekend proved smart too.

“Opening on Mother’s Day was very helpful,” she said. “Some people were coming in buying three bouquets at a time.”