Mom and 18-year-old son in Mississauga open flower studio from home during COVID
Rose's room at Cawthra Gardens Long Term Nursing Care in Mississauga has been brightened every week by a fresh bouquet of flowers thanks to Bushra Khan and her son, Bilal.
They have even thrown a box of Chips Ahoy cookies in with every delivery.
Khan says it was Rose's husband, Jim, who approached them in September about starting the almost weekly flower deliveries for his wife who has been confined to her nursing room bed during the entire pandemic.
"Her husband approached me five months ago. He said, 'Would you please send a nice flower bouquet, and if possible, would you send her Chips Ahoy cookies,'" Khan told blogTO.
"We delivered the flowers and cookies and the next week he called again for the same order. Every time he sends me messages [to Rose] and asks me to handwrite it."
After making the same delivery nearly every weekend, Khan and her son arranged with Rose to surprise Jim with a complimentary flower delivery of his own for Christmas.
Khan says this is what their home flower studio, Florals by Bushra, is all about.
"We try to be very thoughtful about every customer, not just that one person. We take [our customers] very seriously and treat everyone just like family," she said.
Khan started creating bouquets and floral arrangements from the kitchen of her home in Mississauga after she lost her job at Flower Creations in March due to the pandemic.
Although she's never had any formal training, Khan has taken care of the flowers for hundreds of weddings while working as a florist back in Pakistan.
While Khan dreams up the designs for over 10 different floral collections, it's her 18-year-old son who does the nearby deliveries as well as the business side of things including communicating with customers and handling the invoices.
"[Bilal] is the major brains behind everything. He created and developed the website when he wasn't even 18 and in a very short time we started getting customers," she said.
With free contactless deliveries of their flowers and gift baskets offered throughout the GTA, Khan says all orders are sent the same day the flowers are received from the suppliers for optimal freshness and two weeks of bloom.
You can shop the different floral offerings and make an order on the website or you can contact Khan directly if you'd like to make a request for a more customized order.
Bushra Adnan
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