Sherri Lumijarvi

Flowers N Fluff

45 E. Columbia River Highway Clatskanie

---

The town of Clatskanie, between Portland and the coast on U.S. Highway 30, slows travelers and invites them to stop for a little refreshment and local shopping. Many new establishments are popping up along the route, but Flowers N Fluff has provided a rewarding pause for more than two decades. The shop is open from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call  (503) 728-4222.

What do you have here?

This is a flower shop, a garden center and a coffee house. Everything we have in the coffee shop is baked fresh daily and our raspberry white chocolate scones are the best. We also have bagels, oatmeal-to-go cups, donuts, muffins, brownies, jumbo cookies and breakfast burritos and sandwiches. Our flower shop offers fresh floral arrangements and I cater weddings, funerals and all functions. My most favorite part here is the garden center. In addition to perennials, I have a lot of yard art, metal stuff that doesnt need watering. I always have something different here. For example, right now I have bird houses made by Zola, a craftsman from Astoria, at a very good price.

How did you get started doing this?

This started out originally as a garden center and evolved as friends and customers asked for other services. A lot has changed over the past 23 years. When I opened, we didnt have the big discount stores with garden centers that we see in Longview (Wash.), and grocery stores didnt have floral centers. Every part of this business was started in response to customers needs and wants.

How has the economy affected your volume of business?

The first big change came in December of 2007, when the big storm caused a mudslide that blocked Highway 30 for three weeks. Then the gas prices started going up. I went from 11 employees to six and coffee shop sales fell more than 50 percent. We are doing more with fresh flowers right now and just had the best Mothers Day ever. Today I have a wedding to get ready for and six more orders to fill. Except for the wedding, this is a typical day.

 

Are you doing anything to compensate for the economy?

Diversity is the key to survival. Travelers can stop for coffee and our clean restroom is always open to the public. This attracts summer tourists and when one part of the business is having a bad day, another part picks up. We are open 365 days a year. The coffee shop has $2 Monday for a single flavor drink and students, local school kids, get anything to drink for just $2. We are offering live music in our garden patio this summer, starting with the Heritage Days Car Show on June 25.