It seems like only a few years ago when we found the beautful little shop empty on Sicilian Avenue. It was 1985, and I was back in my old stomping ground from my days as a student at UCL. There used to be a tie & herald shop in the Avenue, & the guys in my year bought bit & pieces from there. We used to marvel at the architecture then, but it wasn’t until I moved in that I discovered that it’s a replica of a Sicilian hotel.
Having just moved back from Sweden, I incorporated the Swedish style of flower arranging with the use of all the wonderful English foliage. I don’t think anyone else was making hand tied bouquets at the time, and it didn’t go down well with many! Luckily, the staff & students at Central St. Martin’s across the road loved it, as did Time Out Magazine, who wrote greast things about the shop, & employed me to provide flowers for The Eating & Drinking Awards.
Sean & I had a flat in Islington, & we used to get up at 4am every day & go to the flower market. Sean has always been the PR man behind Stems & me the flower arranger. We had a couple of big hotel contracts which we lost during the early 90’s recession, due to cut-backs in budgets. The bank was being unhelpful, so Sean used his PR magic, & went out & found me a whole load of new clients, most of whom are still with us today.
We’ve had some fantastic staff over the years – Gerardine, Caite, ( Miss Kitty), Fenella & Aldona, ( the two fairies from Central St. Martin’s), the gorgeous late Chris Gallaccio, Anais, ( with pointy lime green shoes), Rella, ( with purple wellingtons), and Tomoko, our lovely Japanese girl. Most of the staff are Arts students, and have brought a wealth of ideas & fun to the shop. Now, it’s Stephen, Charlotte & Yunny who create the Stems magic. Long may it continue!
