Business & Tech

Colonial Flower Shoppe Serving Somers Community for Almost 30 Years

The shop on Main Street first opened in May of 1983.

For almost 30 years, the Colonial Flower Shoppe in Somers has been providing floral arrangements for all kinds of occasions.

Opened in May 1983 at 612 Main St., the shop started out as a full-service florist shop with a gift boutique, and in 1985, it moved to the first floor of the home at 611 Main St.

Over the years, a seasonal Christmas shop was added, along with an outdoor garden shop, and a greenhouse for growing seasonal outdoor plants in the spring.

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Debbie Farnham is the owner and designer and says she wouldn’t be where she is today without the help of all those employed by the shop past and present. She said that many of them have been Somers residents themselves.

The shop is a traditional full-service florist shop that provides daily delivery, both around the corner and around the world, of the floral, plant, and gift selections chosen by the customers.

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“As a walk-in customer, we provide complimentary gift packaging, accept all major credit cards, have an in-house billing system, and offer personalized service with a smile,” Farnham said.

The customized Web site has been updated to provide an almost virtual tour of the flower and gift shop and has a link to the shop’s FTD Web site. Farnham said that it is newly updated to provide secure online ordering of floral gifts. She added that customers can also call on the phone and personally place an order.

While going to college, Farnham worked for a greenhouse operation in Eastford, CT, and after completing a two-year horticultural program at UConn, managed a florist’s shop in Enfield for two years before opening her own shop.

“Lessons and values learned that I take with me today,” she said.

Farnham is a certified FTD master designer, a member of the Connecticut Florist Association, has been to the Ohio Florist Association Short Course several times, and has done workshops to stay in tune with the industry.

Farnham said that the shop has been voted Best Florist in the North Central News several times, and that she was very excited to know that it won Best Florist in 2012 in Patch’s Readers’ Choice contest.

She said that her business mantra would be that she treats others as she would like to be treated, and never allows anything to leave the shop that she or one of her staff members would not want to personally receive. Farnham added that she also realizes at the same time that everyone has different tastes and preferences.

When it came to opening a shop in Somers, Farnham said that she feels the town was chosen for her.

“The Somers community is much like the town of Willington, where I grew up,” she said. “Quaint, rural, with an old-fashioned New England charm that still exists today – except Somers has a center where business and community revolve around that is very unique.”

Farnham said that she would not be where she is today without the support of so many of the town’s residents, businesses and local organizations, and residents in the surrounding towns of  Ellington, Enfield, Stafford, Suffield – to name a few.

When she’s not working, Farnham can be found reconnecting with the world around her through gardening, enjoying the beach and ocean, skiing, hiking, canoeing, stargazing, going to meditation, and exercising regularly.


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