‘Create Beauty and Deliver Happiness’

In its new location, Allan’s Flowers offers ‘sassy and irreverent’ inventory and a seamless shopping experience

By Hilary Dartt • Photos by Heather DeSousa

When Rakini Chinery moved to Prescott in 1989, she was seeking a fresh start. Having worked at flower shops in her native Boston, she applied to several local ones and landed a job at Allan’s Flowers.

A decade later when the owner wanted to sell, Rakini saw a way to create a future: she had a vision for what the store could be.

“I felt like it was something I could grow,” she said during a recent interview. Now, 25 years later, it has met her expectations. “We’ve taken it by leaps and bounds.”

The Allan’s staff is as busy as ever with flower arrangements and deliveries for every occasion, but even more importantly, the shop offers an experience.

“I carefully curate what we carry so it’s unique,” Rakini said, adding that she strives to keep the inventory fresh and brings in seasonal items.

The inventory includes specialty chocolate truffles, candles, coffee mugs, home décor, accents, spa products, gourmet cooking items, shoes, clothing, and more. Allan’s recently entered a partnership with Soruka handbags as Prescott’s sole provider of the amazing, one-of-a-kind handbags made in Spain.

Rakini describes the gifts available as an eclectic mix of “classic and classy” and “sassy and irreverent,” and all gifts can be used to create custom gift baskets, too.

“We like sparkly things, too,” Rakini said.

Houseplants also sell well, and Rakini strives to offer something different from what shoppers would find at the grocery or home improvement store. Plus, the staff members are knowledgeable about plant care.

Allan’s also offers Flower Happy Hour from 4 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; customers can buy fresh flowers for half-price because, Rakini said, “Just having flowers in your house elevates your mood.”

Everything the staff does is with one goal: “That [customers] have a good experience, and they feel like their purchase is really valued by us, because it is. We want them to want to come back.”

From the website to the phone to in-store shopping, they strive to make the experience seamless and satisfying. This approach has undoubtedly led to the store’s longevity—it originally opened in 1914. More recently, though, with the advent of the internet, business success has required adaptability.

For small local businesses, competing against online superstores and online-only florists is “not easy,” Rakini said.

That’s why it’s so important for customers not only to realize it’s not cost prohibitive to shop locally, but also “to come in and experience the personality of your business.”

Constant learning and adapting, as well as unique items and that seamless experience, have helped the store meet today’s challenges.

Another shift: this past July, Allan’s moved to a new location at 600 Miller Valley Road in Prescott. The space is similar in size to the previous store, but offers more room thanks to its layout.

“Since we moved here, people spend more time shopping,” Rakini said, “and we get more walk-in traffic, people just stopping by.”

She called the neighborhood—near the Fry’s on Fair Street—“synchronistic.” Magpie Gifts is just around the corner, and a barber shop, a coffee shop, and several restaurants are nearby.

More than anything, Rakini loves being able to “create beauty and deliver happiness … When we make people happy with our product, that’s my favorite thing.”

Shop in-store at 600 Miller Valley Road in Prescott, by phone at 928.445.3131, or online at https://www.allansflowers.com/ (where you can earn and redeem points).