*Our new location-*

Fifth-Generation Florist Makes Cutting-Edge Transition

In business since 1898, family-owned Keller and Stein Florist is facing the
future with fresh, new digs.

*Canton, MI (July XX, 2013):* Keller and Stein Florist—a Canton, Mich.,
florist—is moving to a new address. The fifth-generation florist is
relocating to a new storefront at 320 N. Canton Center Road, just South of
the Canton Post Office. The current location, about four miles to the
northwest, at 42158 Michigan Ave., will close October 15.

The former location served the business well for decades, says Christine
Keller Patton, who owns the store with her husband, Glenn Patton.
Nevertheless, both owners and employees were eager to transition to the new
space.

“The new store is better for both our staff and our customers,” she says.
“While we loved the nostalgia of our former building, it was simply not
meeting our needs in servicing our customers. It lacked air-conditioning,
and the greenhouses next to it were becoming a burden due to the high costs
of heating and maintaining them. Plus, we wanted to be closer to where our
customers shop.”

Looking around the new Canton, Mich., florist shop, Patton points out the
interactive floor plan, which moves floral designers from their traditional
location at the back of the facility to a position that is
customer-friendly. “Customers can now see our designers creating our floral
arrangements,” she says. “I’m really excited for our customers to be able
to ask about the designs and smell, touch and experience the process.”
Patton says she hopes her clients will learn to love the updated design of
the new site as much as they loved the old one.

The fifth-generation owner attributes her family businesses’ enduring
success to its employees. “They have made the difference,” she says. “Our
prosperity can be attributed to their talents, dedication and attitudes.”

She adds that ingenuity, diversity and creativity have also been elements
in the company’s growth.

Add in the entire staff’s work ethic and insistence on quality and service,
she says, and you have a recipe for achieving true customer satisfaction.

“The Keller family is proud of our history and our dedicated and
professional staff,” she says. “We intend on furthering the vision that
Charles Keller began so many years ago. But we also want to embrace and
provide even more offerings to the Greater Canton community today.”

With their new location, Patton anticipates the Canton, Mich., florist shop
will continue its role as one of the largest and oldest family-owned flower
retailers in the country that has not sold out to “fast-flower” chains. She
admits that the road to the shop’s current success has had its challenges.
But she says those same challenges have made the business stronger.

“We have had to reevaluate each and every thing we do to maintain our
customer loyalty, compete for the more frugal market and to still maintain
quality and service,” she says. “There is no margin for error.” Patton
encourages her staff to ensure that every floral arrangement that leaves
the shop meets those expectations.
“Our legacy as a Canton, Mich., florist continues to be one of
dependability, tradition and service,” she says. “We know flowers, and we
love what we do!”