Exploring Ellensburg Floral & Gifts

Story by Ondrea Machin | Photo & Design by Katie Jo Stewart

When you think about a special time of year, such as Mother’s Day, anniversaries, weddings or Christmas, flowers are one of the first things you think about buying for someone. Ellensburg Floral has an array of flowers, as well as gifts that give people the opportunity to buy a beautiful arrangement or a nice gift.

As a new mom, Dottie Rodgers was looking for a job and found a part-time florist position. She eventually bought Ellensburg Floral and has now been a florist for over 30 years. Rodgers said she kind of fell into being a business owner but there is a sense of community when owning a business.

“There’s a support system in the community. There’s the Ellensburg Downtown Association, and there’s the Chamber, and there’s the city and all of them are really supportive,” Rodgers says. Having a supportive community is important to Rodgers. Without it, she wasn’t sure if she would have made it as a thriving business. Also, Rodgers says without the help of friends and family she probably would have never opened a business because of how much renovation went into the building to make it an acceptable place to have a business.

Owning a business came with a lot of competition from online floral shops. However, Rodgers says she is a hard worker and wants to put her energy into something for herself.

She thought of ways to keep up with the competition, and after the first dotcom crash she added gifts to her floral shop. Twelve years ago, Rodgers moved her business to its current location on the corner of 4th and Pine. The move boosted her gift and plant sales, and allowed her to expand what kinds of gifts she can sell.

Rosemary Meyer is an Ellensburg local and a customer of Ellensburg Floral. Meyer says Rodgers is a “beautiful and creative designer,” and that she enjoys the variety of the store as well as being able to find everything she was looking for in one place.

“So, I appreciate the fact that she’s got, you know, the flower shop, but also the gift side of things, too. It just goes together so well,” Meyer says.

One thing Rodgers says she loves is seeing people come into her store and laugh and have a good time, because her shop gives them a shopping experience that the online stores do not offer.

“That whole thing when you go shopping with your girlfriends, and you’re having a really good time, to have that in my store that’s one of my goals,” Rodgers says.

Rodgers says owning a business is one of the hardest things she has ever done because there is a constant guessing game with buying flowers and whether or not she will sell them. But it can be fun as well.

“[It] can be lots of fun when the whole team is standing there and we’re all creating really wonderful things,” Rodgers says. “And when the flowers come in, oh my God, so beautiful and the store smells amazing.”

Rodgers sets short-term goals for her business and is always looking towards the next thing. She says she has already ordered most of her Christmas stuff and has a few things left to get, and she wants to contribute to the community more.

One goal Rodgers has is recycling when possible. The store composts all its waste and recycles vases people bring in. They also try not to buy excess vases to reduce the amount of garbage that eventually comes out of the community.

“I just want to be the best at what I do, that’s my main goal,” Rodgers says. “I want people to walk in the door and go, oh wow, this is cool.”