Why build a flower shop alone when you can build a cafe in the same space?
It’s what a Dearborn family did and as a result, inside The Flower Shop Detroit X The Coffee Shop Detroit, you can buy specialty coffee drinks with names like Pink Poppy, White Orchid, Black Dahlia and Rose Sangria, yes, named after flowers. Customers can also buy these flowers in store depending on the season.
The double shop is located in the nearby neighborhood of Dearborn Heights at 22722 Ford Road. It held a grand opening a few months ago and is now open as a space to relax, work and study while drinking coffee or ordering flowers.
On one side of the business there is a refrigerator for storing fresh flowers and bouquets. In the middle of the room, the walls are lined with at least 100 flower bouquet boxes. And, on the other side is the cafe with specialty and regular coffee drinks starting at $5.50, pastries, and cold entrees. Customers can request that their drinks have regular, skim, oat or almond milk.
On the @FlowerShopDetroit Instagram account, the company’s profile page features a variety of colorful flower pieces for all occasions with a casual cafe photo in between. The best sellers right now are roses – the flowers, not a drink.
“Everyone is shocked – whether it’s the flowers or the coffee – we got a lot of great feedback from everyone, but we just wanted to do something different,” Nedaa Sobh said. “It’s not just for our community, it’s something that almost starts a trend. I feel like it’s something someone else would say, ‘Wow, I’d really like to do that.’ ”
It is a family business owned by Mahmoud Mohamed Sobh and his son-in-law, Mahmoud Hassan Sobh. And Mahmoud Mohamed Sobh’s daughters, Nedaa Sobh, Kawthar Sobh and Ghalia Sobh, are part of daily operations. It’s not the family’s first business. Mahmoud Hassan Sobh owns a physiotherapy business in Southfield and his father-in-law owns a collision shop in Warren.
Originally, the family thought of opening the cafe next door. But two months before the flower shop’s opening date, which was October 30, they decided to combine the two spaces.
Then Mahmoud Hassan Sobh said they wondered, “Why go anywhere else when we have enough space to do both in one? It’s something unique and a bit different. Then we started setting it up.
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Flower boxes can be purchased in small, medium and large arrangements in round or rectangular shapes. Customers can also order hand bouquets, wedding arrangements, funeral spreads, baby shower flowers and proposals. Baskets and bassinets are also arriving. Pocket bouquets and boxed arrangements start at $55, and prices vary from there.
Customers can receive a free coffee with every flower purchase, which Nedaa Sobh says has caught the attention of many.
Always helping other businesses
The company also organizes pop-up shops at events for its coffee and flowers. He also decided it would be helpful for other small businesses to host pop-up events in his own space.
Ayla’s Links, a permanent jewelry company based in Michigan, was the first company to host a pop-up event at the cafe and flower shop. Pop-up shop owner Zainab Sobh said she was able to sell and solder a variety of 18 bracelets, necklaces and anklets for customers who came to the store for flowers, coffee or who saw a flyer on Instagram under his username @Aylas_Links. It is not related to the family business.
“She (Nedaa Sobh) has managed to bring in some of her own clients which obviously always helps,” Zainab Sobh said. “Of course people were randomly stopping by for a coffee that day, but also because we had marketed and advertised that we had the pop-up there. Lots of people contacted her about it, which she then passed on to me.
She launched her business in November and said the pop-up was so successful in the space that she hopes to plan another one around the summer.
Although the cafe and flower shop have only been open for a few months, the business owners have bigger goals.
“Our goal is obviously to grow,” Mahmoud said. “What we had in mind is to franchise, hopefully. This is our goal.
Contact editor Chanel Stitt on Twitter: @ByChanelStitt. Become a subscriber or offer a subscription.