CULTURE
Ja’Nye Hampton, 22, began Detroit Flower Company during the height of the pandemic.
PHOTO VIA JA’NYE HAMPTON
Detroit Flower Company continues to bloom despite pandemic B y A l ex Washington
Maybe you’ve seen a bou-
uet of roses and sun owers decorated with eucalyptus and wrapped in burlap come across your Instagram feed with the simple caption If you lo e them, etroit lower o. them. Her start in oral artistry began years ago while she was still in high school. ike most sophomores, a ye Hampton decided to get an afterschool ob. Instead of making burgers or cups of co ee, she made bou uets at hrifty lorist, a local orist chain. uring her time there, she became uite popular with the regular clients who noticed she had a natural knack for oral design. It ust kind of got to a point where people would come in after three because they know I worked from p.m. to p.m. because I was still in high school, Hampton recalls. hey would come in and say Hey, we want
that small girl to make them. espite being a talented orist, Hampton wasn t drawn to oral design immediately. After graduating high school and enrolling in college, Hampton left all things oral behind. Instead, she became a certified fitness trainer and yoga instructor and opened her own uice bar. It wasn t until a friend asked her to arrange a grocery store bou uet for an e ent that her close friends began to push her to return to her orist origins. y friend really pushed me to open etroit lower ompany as a business, says Hampton. Although, maybe like the first si months I had one customer and it was her secret admirer. hile Hampton was still on the fence about becoming a orist, she continued to take oral orders during the pandemic. entually, her ar-
28 August 25-31, 2021 | metrotimes.com
rangements became the topic of conersation on witter, which helped shape and grow her clientele. witter took it and blew it up for me, says Hampton. I always thank enn, ueen of outhfield on witter. he and ourtni mentioned me e ery single day and I started to gain followers from them. etroit lower ompany s rapid growth took Hampton s business from social media to a small storefront on etroit s estside. he storefront is ust the beginning of Hampton s plans for etroit lower ompany. arlier this summer, Hampton posted a co ee and ower cart on her social media and says one of her goals is to open a co ee shop in a etroit neighborhood. I ust lo e co ee, I lo e e erything about it, says Hampton. I would lo e for people to be able to buy co ee and
owers from the same place in the hood. hile etroit lower ompany continues to bloom after growing in the darkness of a global pandemic, Hampton says she wants to continue to make her clients feel special and connected. hough she is running a business, she wants her clients to feel they are getting more than owers, that they are gaining friends, as well. I feel like etroit lower ompany is so much more than owers, it s an e perience, says Hampton. I like making other people happy, it keeps me going. etroit lower ompany is e tremely personable and I m going to keep that going. D etroit F l ower C ompany is l ocated at 1 56 4 3 W. M cN ichol s, D etroit. F or more in orm tion isit detroit o erco. com.
