of foliage & flora FAMILY-OWNED MCSHAN FLORIST HAS SERVED EAST DALLAS FOR MORE THAN 70 YEARS Story by RENEE UMSTED | Photography by SYLVIA ELZAFON
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hen she was younger, Jodi McShan thought she wouldn’t ever come back to run McShan Florist, Inc., an East Dallas institution since 1948. Growing up, she spent almost every day before and after school helping at the florist shop on Garland Road. She learned the full range of skills needed to work there — tying bows, making boxes, processing flowers, selling and designing among them. Her favorite task was making basket gardens. Popular in the late 1980s, these gifts had a variety of small green or blooming plants, plus a scene with people or animals. Eventually she realized the craziness around holidays and mile-
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stone occasions is just business, and “it’s not so bad.” She majored in psychology and Spanish at Vanderbilt University and then received a JD from the University of San Diego and LLM from the University of London. Part of the deal was that she had to work for someone else before coming back to the florist shop. So she worked at a firm for a couple years before starting her own family law firm and hiring two associates to help handle the case load. “Sleep is ver y overrated,” she says. Wanting to be around familiar faces, she returned to McShan Florist, the third generation of her family to manage the company. “It’s family,” she says. “Everyone here, they rely on each other.” Most
employees work at McShan Florist for decades, so some of the people there during McShan’s childhood are just now retiring. In a typical day, she responds to a constant barrage of emails and phone calls. Since she also does the shop’s purchasing, she has to know about upcoming events. Over the years, McShan Florist has handl ed countl ess notable events in Dallas. In its early years, it did landscaping for the newly built Casa View homes, for around $12 per home. Lee McShan, the founder, became a member and president of the Dallas ISD Board of Education, and there’s an elementary school named after him in Lake Highlands. The company has provided flowers for every presidential visit to
