Michael's Flowers & Antiques

Mike and Syd Nickels, owners of Michael’s Flowers and Antiques.

~story and photos by Paige Langenderfer

A block from Van Buren Street, tucked in a small storybook shop, are two of Nashville’s beloved treasures. Whether they know it or not, Syd and Mike Nickels have brightened the lives of thousands of people.

Syd taught preschool and kindergarten and Mike built custom log cabins. Together, they run and manage a summer camp, a garden center, the Farmhouse Café, an antique shop, and a flower shop.

But, Michael’s Flowers and Antiques, bursting with color and memories, is the project they have nurtured the most together.

Shortly after the two were married, Syd and Mike were on a road trip to visit Syd’s parents. On one of their stops to “stretch their legs” they walked into a shop that sold nothing but dried flowers.

“It was full of color and unusual things,” Mike said. “And I looked at Syd and said, ‘I think this would go over well in Nashville.’”

He tucked the idea away in the back of his mind and continued the road trip. A few years later, the idea was still turning in Mike’s head.

“I can’t remember the year, but I asked Syd if we should go through with it,” he said.

“I remember the year very well,” Syd said. “I had a baby at home and was pregnant with another. It was 1976. I just said, ‘Who is going to run it?’”

Mike put an ad in the paper and soon hired someone to manage the shop.

“We rented a little place on Washington Street and hung out a sign,” Mike said. “And we were in business.”

“Near us, there was a leather shop, a potter, and a baker,” Syd said. “We called it ‘hippyville.’ It was a lot of fun.”

Their employee ran the shop during the day, but Syd and Michael went nearly every night to tie bundles of dried flowers together for inventory.

A couple of years after opening, they began offering fresh flowers as well as dried flowers.

“That was when we really felt like we were committed to the community,” Mike said. “We were open seven days a week and delivering flowers all over the community for all kinds of occasions.”

Some deliveries stand out in Syd’s mind more than others.

“I walked in and handed a bouquet to a woman and as soon as she read the card she threw them in the trash can right in front of me,” said Syd, laughing. “She wanted nothing to do with those flowers.

“Another time, a man bought two bouquets for his wife at the same time. One was to give her as he left to go hunting and the other was to give her as he walked back in the house from the same hunting trip.”

The flowers sold well, but a weekend in Chicago in the early 1980s changed the future of the shop forever.

“One of our friends asked us if we wanted to go with him to the Gift Market in Chicago,” Syd said. “I told him I had never heard of it.”

The Gift Market is a wholesale trade show designed for store owners, retail buyers, and designers.

“It literally introduced us to the world,” Syd said. “There were vendors from all over the world. That is when we began offering more than flowers.”

Walking through the store today, customers will see home decor and accessories like bird houses, clocks, rugs, Christmas items, and countless additional decor options.

Customers might be surprised to learn that Mike selects each product for the store.

“He has impeccable taste,” Syd said. “He personally selects every single item in the store and until recently he arranged all the displays on his own. He would come in the evenings after the shop had closed for the day and would stay until four in the morning sometimes, making sure everything was perfect.”

Michael’s Flowers has been in business for 47 years and is one of Nashville’s oldest shops.

In nearly half a century, Syd and Michael have made countless memories, many including their six children and 18 grandchildren.

“I am grateful for the wonderful people we have had the opportunity to share our life with (through the shop),” Syd said.

“I have loved interacting with the customers and hearing their stories,” Mike said.

Syd, 82, and Mike, 79, have no plans of slowing down. While they “don’t work all day,” they still work nearly every day of the week at their various businesses.

“We don’t have any big plans for the future,” Mike said. “We’re just happy to have a little shop on Jefferson Street.”

Michael’s Flowers and Antiques is located at 31 North Jefferson Street in Nashville and is open 10 seven days a week from 10 to 5. They can be reached at 812-988-7758, <michaelsflowersandantiques.com>, and on Facebook.