Business looking forward to first Valentine’s Day
(Seguin) — Not only has a new flower shop opened up in Seguin but it also appears to have already delivered its own Valentine’s Day gift to the community. Moss & Willow hopes that a building mural outside its location at 410 E. Gonzales St. will help spread its message of “Love” not only on this Valentine’s Day but all year long.
Owner Antoinette Mata says the mural designed by area Artist Jenkins2D was the finishing touch put on her new business — a business that just opened two weeks ago.
“I was perplexed. I needed something to call attention to my building. I’m the new kid in town. I want bright and color and I wanted to just be able to give families somewhere to be able to take a cool picture and be like ‘hey, we are from Seguin.’ Not only do we want to bring in some of the attention that Burnt Bean is bringing to the community, but we also just want to give the community a cool area to brag to their friends,” said Mata.
She says not only is the mural fun and colorful, but it depicts all the great things that make up this community.
“So, the mural was thought of by the artist. These are trendy right now — the post card murals. It’s akin to the vintage like 50s and 60s style but we also wanted to honor Seguin. We picked out all of the noticeable areas that we knew when we thought of Seguin. We also just spent some time seeing what the popular image when it comes to Seguin. We definitely wanted to pay homage to all of the important spots. We wanted to highlight Texas, blue bonnets, pecans, Indian paintbrushes. We are a flower company, so we wanted some flowers in there and of course, it’s a gift from us to the community. So, with all our love we just wanted to say ‘hey, Seguin, we are here, and we are ready to build memories with you,’” said Mata.
Being a resident of New Braunfels, Mata wanted to show her commitment to the community and is convinced that the road to Seguin was the right one.
“We have just had a lot of good, local experiences in Seguin. Unfortunately, in New Braunfels, the price hikes are just a little too much for us to start what we wanted to do in New Braunfels, and we just set our sights to the next and up and coming city which is Seguin. The projections for the city to double are very quickly so that inspired us to come into Seguin and kind of start laying down some roots to have something fun and fresh and different,” said Mata.
Now as far as her products and services, Mata says she couldn’t be more excited about launching her new business and partaking in her first Valentine’s Day holiday in Seguin.
“We are collaborating with someone who is making us fresh chocolate dipped strawberries. She hand picks these berries. Picks only the finest quality chocolates. It’s a really nice chocolate and we’ve had compliments over it. We are just supporting local communities. Our friend is making them. They are gourmet. We also have really cute arrangements. They are fresh. They have orchards in them. We specialize in dried flowers, so we add a little bit of dried flowers into every arrangement. That way when the flowers have lasted their life span, people can pull out those dry flowers and keep them as a keepsake and it’s something we like doing. We add a little bit touch. It’s something that is going to last a little longer than what a typical arrangement is going to last,” said Mata.
And for those who are just now noticing the date on their calendars, well, Mata says they have nothing to worry about.
“It’s not too late. We are people who don’t say no. We do not say ‘no.’ We say bring it on. Our wholesalers are carrying flowers late. We will pick up flowers at all times of day. We have a cooler full of flowers and we have more flowers on the way, so we have wraps. We are working with other businesses so we will have wraps at Amanda’s bakery Ohhh Donna’s (Sweets & Treats) and I think we are trying to set something up with the Sweet Shop to where we will have some bouquets available there so we will have different locations where people can go if they are not able to get to our shop. We will be around the city so they can pick up a bouquet that is pre-made. Those will start off at about $20 and go up to $80. We typically open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will probably get here a little early and we will stay here until we sell out,” said Mata.
Future visions for Moss & Willow include an even larger plant bar and as Mata describes, “just a place for folks to hang out.” She hopes to also soon begin offering art classes, arrangement classes, wreath making and looks forward to collaborating with other businesses to host other fun activities for couples, friends or families.
Like Moss & Willow, other local floral shops and specialty shops also look to hold down the fort as they try to make sure that folks don’t go home empty handed this Valentine’s Day. Many of them too have hired extra hands and will be staying open a little later than usual.