diary of a mad florist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ivy’s Flower Station Is L.A.’s Only Drive-Through Flower Shop
GLENDALE, CA – Aug 10, 2009 – “Surely one of our California car culture’s most enduring contributions to the progress of civilization is the drive-through” says Marianne Atkinson, owner of Ivy’s Flower Station in Glendale – with just a hint of a smile on her face. Atkinson has opened L.A.’s only drive-through flowershop at 1435 Kenneth Road, near the corner of Grandview Avenue – a site that has been a working gasoline station since 1923, when the car culture was young. It wasn’t exactly a new idea – Atkinson thought up the concept nearly two decades ago when her new husband showed up late with flowers for Valentine’s Day. But she never found the right site – until earlier this year. Says Atkinson: “We’re always in a hurry in the Valley. I can still find a few of those ancient drive-through milk-and-grocery stops still here, still in operation along the side streets of the San Fernando Valley where you can pick-up your necessaries without getting out from behind the wheel. And those of us who love the Valley lifestyle simply couldn’t get by without our In-N-Out burger stands, drive-through pharmacies, drive-through dry cleaners, even our drive-through Starbucks.” Adds Atkinson, who has made flowers her life: “It didn’t take a great leap of genius to make sure that my new shop – Ivy’s Flower Station – should be drive-in too. We’re proud of the site’s Valley heritage so we’ve integrated some of the original Mobil Oil advertising banners into the décor of the main building. But I think our simple, stylish flower station is a lot better for the environment than one more gasoline station.”
As easily as picking up a hamburger, fries and large orange soda, you can now grab a bouquet of flowers to woo your sweetheart, apologize to your wife, or just brighten your day. Don’t be deceived by the flowershop’s gas-station heritage; Atkinson is a sophisticated and much respected floral designer whose simple, elegant arrangements would fit right into a shop window on Rodeo Drive across the pass in Beverly Hills. Her designs are a particular favorite of studio executives and some of the Valley’s most recognizable TV and film stars that use her arrangements at home, on the lot, and at studio premieres.
Ivy’s Flower Station is also a mainstay for many of the Valley’s churches and charities. If their orders inspire additional customers from among members, Atkinson promises under her “Project Blossom” program to donate 10 percent of all pre-tax money back to the non-profit. Among those organizations already participating are the Alex Theater, the Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra, and several local churches. Atkinson maintains a very elegant website that is seasonally updated – Halloween is the current motif – and displays year-round some of her most popular classics. The website has let the rest of the world in on her work – and she has received orders from as far away as Bermuda and Manhattan. Says Atkinson: “We are still a small shop on a street in Glendale, but the web is exposing the quality and creativity of our designs to a much bigger world.” Atkinson will also be teaching Wednesday night classes at the Flower Station in floral design, beginning later this month, that will mix the basics on cut and presentation with more advanced concepts of color theory, texture, line and form.
The idea for the shop came to Atkinson more than two decades ago: “My husband I and were to celebrate our first Valentines Day together, and he showed very late – and it was very nearly our last Valentine’s Day! When I asked him what happened, he told me about the long line of husbands and boyfriends that wound out the door and around the block at the local flower shop. I kept the husband and also the conviction that there had to be another way of helping these poor guys out.” Said Atkinson: “I tried to think of a way to get people in and out faster and easier, like a drive-through restaurant or a gas station; and that’s when it clicked.” Over the course of two decades, Marianne tried in vain to find the perfect location, but circumstance and timing were never on her side. All of that changed six months ago when she finally secured a filling station that was going out of business. Ivy’s clients include everyone from those hurried husbands she originally set out to help, to stay-at-home moms who can pull up in their mini-van, kids in tow, and not leave their vehicle. Hot day in the valley? Don’t want to leave your air conditioned car, even for a minute? No problem; Marianne and her staff will bring their selection out to you while the motor’s running. As for how she came up with the name “Ivy’s”? Well, flora runs in the family. “I’ve got three daughters, Lily, Ivy and Daisy. The day I was deciding on the name for the shop, my oldest, Lily, was being a real pain so I went down to the second girl. It could just as easily have been ‘Lily’s Flower Station’ if she’d have played her cards right.”
CONTACT
Marianne Atkinson
1435 W. Kenneth Road
Glendale CA 91201
818-500-7599
http://www.ivysflowerstation.com/