MANCHESTER, NH – Nothing says spring like flowers, and thus it only seems fitting as the calendar turns to April that downtown Manchester is welcoming the arrival of a new floral experience.
On Monday, a crowd gathered on Hanover Street to welcome the Dew Collective, a new business that combines a flower shop with an art gallery, interior decorating store and workshop with expected crafts classes.
The concept is led by Jen MacLaren, a North End resident who sought to combine her love of Manchester and her expertise in the floral industry.
Announced earlier this year, the Hanover Street location is joined by a sister location in Newburyport, Mass., which MacLaren says will help the store get discounts on wholesale purchases from international suppliers.
“I’m essentially able to split inventory between the two locations and provide a better quality product faster to market,” she said. “It’s all fresh flowers shipped in from all over the world: Southeast Asia, Holland, South America; when they get delivered, I can get better and higher quantities of that flower and push them faster to customers with better deals.”
MacLaren’s background stems (no pun intended) from a marketing and branding background, recently branching out (again, no pun intended) into pop-up floral sale events as well as a partnership with Manchester Flower Studio’s Janet Desmarais.
Located on Wilson Street for almost 40 years, Desmarais has been working with MacLaren in recent months to transition her clientele toward the Dew Collective as she seeks to distance herself from the business-side day-to-day operation of a flower shop while focusing on her true love: the flowers themselves.
“(MacLaren) just came into my store one day and we were talking and she said she really wanted to get into the flower business and I said I was ramping mine down and I asked if she would like to take mine over and she thought that was great,” said Desmarais.
At the business’ ribbon cutting, local dignitaries and well-wishers such as Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais were on hand to celebrate the birth of the new shop.
Ruais joked that he was happy to have a new flower shop just a few hundred feet away from his office to purchase apology bouquets when needed. He also predicted success for the business given the recent addition of several other new businesses nearby in the Palace Theatre area that he believes will become frequent Dew Collective customers.
“It’s so exciting to have this, just more evidence that Manchester is on the move,” said Ruais. “And having this right here in the downtown area, it’s just the perfect addition to the downtown community.”
Dew Collective, is located at 34 Hanover St., Manchester. Store hours: Tues-Sat. 12-5 p.m. On the web: www.dewcollective.co Phone: 603-669-6060