It’s not unusual for a customer to walk

into Mum’s Flowers and mention that the shop created the flower

arrangements for their wedding years ago.

“We’re like the family florist,” owner

Cara Finch said. “We do their flowers when a baby is born, when

they go to prom and then for their wedding. We have customers come

in and tell us that Mum’s did their wedding and they’re in their

60s.”

Mum’s has been part of Whitefish for a

long time and now the business has relocated to downtown. Finch is

hoping for a modern and revitalized feel while inside a shop that

has touches reminiscent of the past.

“The concept was back to old

Stumptown,” Finch said. “We wanted to create that old-style store

front.”

Finch continues to look for ways to set

her store apart. On a recent day, green and purple ornamental

cabbage filled the shop’s window box rather than

traditional-colored fall foliage. The selection was intentional,

Finch noted, from an idea she picked up traveling to flower

shows.

Mum’s has had different owners and

moved around in Whitefish, most recently to Spokane Avenue. Finch’s

parents purchased the new location on East Second Street and

remodeled it for Mum’s.

Finch, a Whitefish native, took over

Mum’s about a year ago. She didn’t have any experience running a

flower shop, but she did have a business degree and the

determination to learn.

“I grew up having a garden,” she said.

“I liked to decorate and I’d done flower arranging at home, but not

professionally. A lot of people who spend years working at a flower

shop will decide to open their own business without any business

knowledge. I decided to approach it from the other side. I always

wanted to own my own small business and I knew I could learn the

flower side.”

Finch took her business model and

worked hard. She spent hours learning from floral designers and

taking classes and flying to floral conventions around the

country.

She learned that the floral business is

broader than other businesses that focus on a niche set of

customers.

“Men, women, different ages,” she said.

“Everyone is your customer.”

Finch knew from previous owners she had

a solid foundation at Mum’s, but she gave the business a little

extra attention. She created a logo and a website and has begun to

bring in new retail products. She’s also been focusing more on

providing floral decoration for weddings and events.

The move to the new prominent location

was a way to draw in business, but also create a better

product.

“Here we have sunlight, which is a lot

better for our plants,” she said. “It helps with floral design — to

be able to see the colors is important. In our old location it was

hard to see us and now people say ‘this is pretty, let’s go

in.’”