Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meg Blancato, Natalie Gill. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Meg Blancato, thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
Hands down, the biggest challenge to profitability in our industry is cost of labor and the perishable nature of flowers. Unlike traditional flower shops or big-box flower companies that use specific formulas and symmetrical, paint-by-numbers-esque design principles that are easy for almost anyone to replicate, we are training people to become floral artists. Our design training period is approximately 3-6 months, and takes a lot of hands-on guidance. We’re teaching an art form which is subjective and nuanced. The other half of that is the fact that the bulk of our inventory is perishable and completely unusable within 5-7 days. Our loss ratio is quite high, and the constant dance of making sure you have enough flowers while not having too much overage that will die and drain profitability is an exhausting one!
Meg Blancato,, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Natalie Gill founded Native Poppy in 2014 as a floral event business from the living room floor of her apartment.
Native Poppy quickly expanded into a brick and mortar flower shop growing from 1 to 3 locations in under 5 years. Making unorthodox choices like creating a “Flower Menu” and opting NOT to offer single-bloom, dozen-stem bunches, Native Poppy pioneered a new type of flower shop
Meg Blancato was Native Poppy’s first official employee, and became co-owner in 2018. She and Natalie found a kinship in their passion for flowers and business, and the combination was nothing short of magic.
Native Poppy specializes in wild and whimsical, garden-style flower designs for daily orders and subscriptions, as well as weddings, large-scale events, and even workshops! We even have a raised-bed, micro flower farm where we grow some of our own flowers half of the year.
We also offer a curated gift selection from small, BIPOC, woman-owned, and LGBTQ+ business owners. In addition, we make some of our own gifts in house – Native Poppy originals you won’t find anywhere else!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Can we ever?! Aside from navigating a global pandemic, we faced two major obstacles in the last 3 years. First, we had a car crash into our South Park shop in June of 2022. Although this crash, thankfully, brought no harm to anyone involved, our shop was not severely damaged and functional for 6 months. A year and half after that, our Mission Valley studio flooded with 3.5 feet of water due to the devastating storms that rolled through San Diego in January of 2024.
Both of these events resulted in a huge loss of revenue, destroyed inventory/ supplies, a misunderstanding throughout the community about if we went out of business, and long-lasting hardships on the company that continue to have a ripple affect.
We are so grateful to our customers and community that helped get us through each disaster, but running a small business is hard enough as it is without added hurdles like these.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The pandemic is a great example of this for us, as it was for many businesses, but the biggest pivot was adapting our delivery program. Before the pandemic, our orders were split 75/25 pick-ups to deliveries, but it went to 100% delivery for a few months in the spring of 2020. We went from doing 3-5 deliveries a day to doing 40 deliveries a day! We adapted our systems so much to accommodate that, and it ended up being a great thing because now our delivery program is incredible and delivering flowers to someone is truly one of the most magical experiences!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nativepoppy.com/
- Instagram: @native_poppy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nativepoppyfloral/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/native-poppy
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/native-poppy-solana-beach, https://www.yelp.com/biz/native-poppy-san-diego-5, https://www.yelp.com/biz/native-poppy-san-diego-2
Image Credits
Hale Productions
Nila B Photo