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Business is Blooming for
Card Maker
By Monique Cole
Bloomin' Flower Cards has converted an old idea into a new product
and a thriving business. Owned by four Boulder residents, this
company sells greeting cards that, when buried, sprout into wildflowers,
herbs, vegetables, chili peppers, four-leaf clovers, and even
Christmas trees.
Co-owner Thomas Noyes founded Bloomin'
Flower Cards three years ago with a converted chicken coop in
his backyard acting as factory and a room in his house as office.
Noyes made paper as a hobby and discovered a centuries-old farming
method whereby farmers stored seeds embedded in paper. After
planting, the paper acted as a mulch to help the seeds germinate.
"I just fell in love with the idea,"
Noyes says. So did three other young entrepreneurs who joined
in the business: his wife, Susan Swanson, James Franzen, and
Don Martin. Martin brought a greeting card business background
to the team of owners with his experience working for Leanin'
Tree, Inc. in Gunbarrel. Noyes contributes a retail perspective
as owner of the Full Cycle bike shop in Boulder.
Bloomin' Flower Cards produces 5,000
greeting cards a day, and about a half-million a year, which
are sold in all 50 of the United States and in Canada, Japan,
Germany, England, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Martin says he
hopes to expand sales to the South Pacific, Australia, and New
Zealand.
Kim Dunning, owner of The West End Gardener
on Pearl Street has been selling Bloomin' Flower Cards since
she opened the shop in 1995. "People love them," she
says of the greeting cards. "We have sold them very consistently
since we opened." Dunning believes the recipe for the cards'
success is that they are unique, earth-friendly, fun, and attractive.
She adds that her customers like the fact that the company is
local and she herself enjoys doing business with the "fun,
nice and easy-going" owners of Bloomin' Flower Cards.
The cards begin as shredded post-consumer
recycled paper provided by Eco-Cycle. The paper is soaked into
a pulp, then pigments and seeds are added before the pulp is
pressed into paper the exact shape and size of the final product.
A furnace carefully regulates air temperature during the drying
process to ensure the seeds neither germinate nor die.
The seeds give the paper a touchable,
earthy texture. Each card contains hundreds of seeds of such
variety that something is sure to sprout in almost any climate.
A heart-, oval-, or rectangle-shaped
window in the outer, seed-embedded card frames the artwork featured
on the inner card. The windows are molded into the paper, rather
than cut, preserving the seeds inside. The inner designs hint
at the enclosed seeds with colorful paintings of chili peppers,
flower gardens, kitchen scenes and Christmas trees. A piece of
natural raffia holds the two cards together and a piece of paper
folded around one corner declares, "Plant 'em. They Grow."
Along with an envelope and a product information sheet, the whole
package is placed inside a protective plastic sleeve and sold
at retail outlets for $4.50.
"We try to be as environmentally
responsible as possible with our inks and pigments because the
cards are going back into the earth," Martin says. Natural
ingredients such as berries, barks, and minerals make up the
pigments. The inner cards are printed with soy ink on recycled
paper.
The company's commitment to the environment
extends beyond their products. Employees are fervent recyclers
themselves and most days several owners commute to work on bicycles.
The "company cars" are bikes fitted with trailers used
to pick up supplies and deliver cards to local retail clients.
Bloomin' Flower Cards is also dedicated
to social responsibility. Through Boulder County Enterprises
production jobs are provided to disabled individuals. One of
the company's full-time employees, Norman Tankersley, has Downs
Syndrome. "It's a challenging job for him," Martin
says. "He really enjoys it."
Much of the time-consuming assembly
work is contracted out to "stay-at-home moms." And
interns from the University of Colorado's business school learn
first-hand about running a small enterprise. Michael Banks is
one of the many local artists who provide illustrations. "There's
such a wealth of talent in Boulder," Martin says. A portion
of the proceeds from Banks' designs are donated to the Nature
Conservancy.
So far, a mix of unique products and
earth-friendly business practices have proven a recipe for success.
Sales have increased by 100 percent for each of the three years
Bloomin' Flower Cards has been in business. The enterprise has
been completely, "self-funded," according to Martin,
who adds, "We've tried to grow at a controlled, slow rate
so that our mistakes have minimal impact."
While greeting cards and smaller gift
enclosure cards remain the bulk of the business, the company
also produces stationary kits, do-it-yourself announcement and
invitation packages, jewelry backing cards, and product tags.
Ninety percent of the products are sold
wholesale to foreign distributors and retail outlets such as
gardening stores, gift shops, natural food grocers, and book
stores including the Barnes & Noble Booksellers national
chain. The other 10 percent of business comes from special orders
and consumer mail order. Special orders include an exclusive
greeting card for the Walt Disney Gallery and product tags for
The Body Shop.
Thanks to its success, Bloomin' Flower
Cards' headquarters has grown out of the chicken coop and into
a 4,500-square-foot warehouse east of Foothills Parkway. A relaxed
atmosphere dominates the small facility where Martin's 8-month-old
son, Jackson, and Noyes' and Swanson's dog, Hannah, vie for the
attention of their office-mates.
The owners are definitely reaping the
benefits of owning their own small business. Martin and Franzen
work full-time at Bloomin' Flower Cards while Swanson puts in
hours around her full-time position as a nurse and Noyes splits
his time between his two businesses. "Owning our own business
gives us the flexibility to make our own hours and maintain a
family atmosphere that is casual and fun," Martin says,
adding that the owners often take off during the week for skiing
and mountain biking. "We probably work more than forty hours
per week, but they aren't banker's hours."
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