There are plenty of people at home looking for something creative to get their hands on and plenty of companies who need to keep their staff engaged.
Article by Amanda Long who is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
Enter two creative New York City florists, Starbright Floral Design and Buunch, both of which have recently taken their online design classes into the homes of Google and Bloomberg employees for the kind of after-work happy hour where the buds on the table provide a different sort of cheer. “The best wind-down hour I’ve had after work in a long time,” is how one Googler (Google speak for employee) described Starbright Floral Design’s Virtual Flower Design Workshop, after taking it with 19 of his coworkers one Tuesday night in mid-September.
Caroline Bailly and her longtime partner, Takaya Sato, spun off Buunch to “share the flower magic on a smaller scale,” in both New York and The Hamptons.
The perfect way to keep florists connected to their corporate business (in a time of empty offices) and promote the therapeutic benefits of flowers is another way to describe it. Starbright is mainly a business-to- business florist, providing weekly arrangements to major employers, decorating the lobbies of top firms and hotels and providing human resources departments across the city with gifts for employees and clients.
When those buildings emptied in mid-March, Senior Partner Nic Faitos said he knew he’d have to get creative and re-brand the Chelsea shop directly to consumers. What he discovered is that all those business contacts were missing Starbright — and their lush designs — too. “There’s a person at every one of those accounts whose job it is to order flowers, so whenever they need flowers personally, they think of Starbright,” said Faitos. “We didn’t realize how strong those connections were until they started ordering directly from us (during the pandemic).” And when one Googler, tasked with coming up with a virtual activity for the company’s “culture club,” needed something to entertain the crew via the screen, she turned back to her friends at Starbright.
So far, Faitos and designer Nikki Abis have led two classes, to 20 budding designers on the Manhattan Google team and plan to do another for the holidays. Google paid $100 per each participant to virtually attend a 90-minute workshop. Starbright delivered the flowers, vase and tools to each person’s home by 4 p.m. the day of the class, with a recipe and instructions to put the flowers in water before the 6 p.m. class.
Starbright Floral Design’s Nikki Abas leads a class of Google employees through the bouquet-making basics in one of the shop’s new corporate-focused design classes. The always ebullient Faitos warmed up the crowd with some floral trivia, including tidbits about the Holland tulip industry, what’s in season and where the flowers come from and then handed it off to Abis who, for about 45 minutes, walked them through the design stem by stem. “We told them, no two arrangements will be alike, but all will be amazingly beautiful,” Faitos said. “And we were right, they were all different but beautiful.”
The reviews were equally positive from the students. Just hours after the second class, Starbright got a new glowing review on its Google listing — from the class organizer. He’s pitching the idea to longtime clients American Express, Ernst & Young and Mastercard and to other florists, hoping to partner with them to provide so they can deliver product to their local students, while his design staff leads the distance learning. “There are plenty of people at home looking for something creative to get their hands on and plenty of companies who need to keep their staff engaged,” he said. “And everyone could use the mood boost of having flowers in their home.
” In another Chelsea design room, Caroline Bailly was also looking for new ways “to do what every florist loves to do: share the joy of emotions with flowers” as the high-profile events, editorial projects and “Today Show”-covered weddings of her company L’Atelier Rouge were scaled back. She and her longtime partner, Takaya Sato, had already cleared a more direct path around events, directly to consumers last year. That’s when Bailly and creative floral director and Ikebana master Sato spun off Buunch as a way to “share the flower magic on a smaller scale,” in both New York and The Hamptons.
Buunch offers subscription services and delivery of fresh and “Long Lasting” (dried) arrangements, ranging from $100 to $650. The subscription business was holding strong during the pandemic, but Bailly was pining for the face time with clients. “We’ve been deprived of that, so when a client asked if we could do something for employees, I knew this would be the concept to share our passion,” she said of the virtual flower design class/team building exercise. Bloomberg paid $90 each for 50 of its employees to attend a mid-August class lead by Sato.
To help students create a home sanctuary and provide a little stress relief in addition to floral skills, Bailly chose a design from Buunch’s Flower Therapy collection, which incorporates aromatherapy and soothing colors. Boxes of fresh mint, freesia, lavender, sage, garden roses, along with raffia, a knife, vase and coupon for another order were delivered to each participant’s home the day of the class.
Encouraged by a rush of emails touting the class as “amazing” and photos on social media, Bailly officially launched "Buunch Virtual Services" for team building and professional development Sept. 18. She’s in talks with a major furniture retailer interested in treating employees to a “buunch” of fun for its holiday party. “The success of the event, coupled with the enthusiasm of the attendees was all we needed to solidify this as an equitable offering in a virtually untapped market,” Bailly said. “It’s another expression of what we love to do.”
At Hoorays! we are excited to partner with Buunch. Click here to book your space for Caroline's flower therapy event!