Locust Street well represents authentic historic Hudson, and the Hudson Flower Shop goes back enough decades to fit that decorated bill with its varied and colorful flora.
The business has been a power in flower sales — and you get that mantra by existing before television commercials — on Locust Street since 1946. Most fully mature trees don’t have that long a live span. Shelli Erck is the fifth owner of the store, and one of those here who also teach prominently how to decorate and design, and has been in this capacity with the shop for 28 years. That’s more than one-third of the store’s entire lengthy tenure.
She is taking the lead in putting out their product, and thus promotion, behind the effort called Love on Locust Street. There have been a few other times, over this one, using this same collaboration theme, and her store is the sales force behind the street’s take, with nine stores banding together almost back-to-back-to-back, for what band or such to get your significant other. Or for yourself. (Musically as a mega-concert, of bands? Or otherwise on The Street.)
They say, the nine stores all as one: “Love yourself!! Love someone special!! We have all your pampering needs whether you are pampering yourself or someone special …” Small hearts pasted over each one when you come in. With our without your significant other.
— And for such self-love, in a good way, there is the Arcana Apothecary a half-block down from my apartment building on Hudson’s Second Street that all Sunday (fitting?) afternoon will offer an event heavy on these topics, providing a light through products and their usage involving herbal baths and ritual salts, and my best loved, self-affirmation candles. Called a transformative alchemy. Sounds good to me, by and large, with what they’ve said. See their website for some added information and how to register, and also reference Droplets of Wellness below on this post, as you gotta love it and love you.
And the place nextdoor to me has at work here as a side hustle, so to speak, Sacred Iris Botanicals, and the middle name makes me think of the name of the Egyptian goddess.
And especially if you are a guy, you can (also) treat yourself to a $20 haircut at the called classic barber upstairs, (don’t know about the facial massage aspect and their is no Arcana arcade.) But still, pamper yourself, and thus take care better care of yourself, regardless of your gender. Like with my busy with jobs, plural, bartender friend who I just told on her most crammed-in day, to make sure and book in 20 minutes of downtime simply to veg-out and … just “be” thusly. —
Back to our main store, which also looks small from the street but it’s mighty inside! Way beside smaller plants. Its hard to disagree as some arrangements are the size of full bushes and feature all colors of the rainbow at once, with stems of varied thicknesses and turnings and styles. Vases are of all shapes and bendings, and the flora can spread out way to the side on many of them. Floral arrangements, as examples of what you can purchase, cover the walls up to the ceiling, with hanging plants everywhere, and they use the space to best extent to breathe beauty into all ends of the place. There is more than one aisle to stroll through, with flora-packed sub-aisles within aisles, featuring tiers and layers of counters as you go upward, and what you see changes up as you move — or also linger — and go along. The twinkling lights strung around the higher reaches add to the appeal. This particular use of space doesn’t even include the back areas that are large in size and give plenty of room for the designers to make their creations.
One of them that was being arranged as I talked to Erck had a beautifully artistic look, original in design with a combination of various greenery and deliciously understated bright flowers, that included a wide metal vase that was legitimate gold in color.
“We carry a large supply of fresh-cut flowers, restocking our cooler multiple times through the week. We also have a large selection of greeting cards, gifts, plants and containers,” Erck emphasized. “Our designers boast over 50 years of design experience and Shelli, the owner, is an instructor at The Institute of Floristry in Minneapolis, Minn. We have been designated the people’s favorite florist by St. Croix Valley magazine for the last five years. We take pride in creating a personal experience you can rave about. Our motto is that, We want to be your first choice for flowers in the St. Croix Valley.” I have dealt with the magazine as a writer, and their advice comes well recommended.
The shop feaures a big “cooler” separate area that has the warmth of many flowers, that you can venture into, with a varied greeting card selection alongside. And more and more …
Hudson Flower Shop has a poignant logo too, with a big H and flowery six-pedal design attached alongside.
One of many out of the photos online, shows an arrangement with close to a dozen of distinct types of flora.
The store has a synergy to a very longtime jewelry and diamond store in the same block, and such others including Knoke’s Chocolates, having been there since the year 2000. So there is a full Locust Street promotion that might interest anyone who sees red, in a good way, leading up to Valentine’s Day.
Check out the web site at www.hudsonflowershop.com. And give them a call and see what everyone is talking about, they suggest. People have done so for decades, since before the time phones were a thing. People in those days stopped by in-person. And they can today at Street No. 222.
And visit also, the eight other stores up and down the one main and virtually only block of Locust Street to see their varying kinds of merchandise, in many different categories. They are all part of the promotion that together mainfests the slogan Love On Locust Street. A common theme in all the stores is an extensive and varied inventory, that could be called eclectic, if an overused term. Their flyer lists the street numbers of all the venues in an upper corner, generally going up by only a numeral or two.
An inventory example, from Rose and Lavender: There are all those books, to make for dates that are truly blind, that have there covers closely covered and masked, but just naming first a genre and then three sub-genres — a mystery in itself. Next-shelf, way in the back past tons of other stuff, are big fluffy pillows and a wicker basket beneath, for variety.
These are the other stores, roughly in order: a’ la mode salonspas, Beloved Makers and Company, Post American eatery, BackRoom Vintage, Chapter2 Books, and Droplets of Wellness. As Locust Street shows its nine lives.