R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Julie Aiken prepares a Woodland Garden Bouquet at Wickert Floral.

EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.

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ESCANABA — The staff at Wickert Floral in Escanaba, now in its fourth location, works hard to provide fresh flower orders taken by phone, walk-in, and internet. They sell potted indoor houseplants, which fill the store with lush greenery year-round, plus vases and a couple other gift items. But flowers remain the core of the business, and everyone involved has their focus and seems to take pride in their work.

At a large station with a big desk, quasi-hidden behind layers of leafy plants, Kathleen Louis works with potting soil for the big plants and assembles floral arrangements for funerals. When the Press stopped in on Thursday, she was just finishing off two identical vases from which petals of yellow, red and orange burst artfully from fringes of green. Louis tied both off with looping bows of burgundy.

Julie Aiken was alternating between a counter across from Louis and the front desk with the cash register, where customers collected orders, asked questions, and completed purchases.

Pivoting to the hightop counter, Aiken methodically recreated a Woodland Garden Bouquet as dictated by Teleflora, the online service through which people can order designs as if from a menu. In a short vase resembling a log, she placed a block of Oasis Floral Foam, then carefully poured water from a jug, little by little, until the foam had absorbed a proper amount. She sprayed freshly clipped green sprigs with Leaf Shine, inserted them in the foam as the base of the bouquet, then collected flowers from the cooler to grow the arrangement to its prescribed state.

At an earlier point, Wickert used to use FTD for online flower orders; now they solely use Teleflora, the offerings from which can be found at wickertfloral.com.

Of course, purchases of flowers for holidays, daily occasions, events can also be — and often are — made in-store or over the phone.

“You can come in and describe the arrangement you want; you can say, ‘please design something for me, this is my event,’ or ‘this is my occasion,'” Louis explained. “We’ve done the Governor’s Luncheon at the fair, and we’ve done the big events at the casino, like Fire and Ice.”

Artificial flowers — also called “silks” or “permanent botanicals” — are done upon request.

Marcia Linzmeier, general store manager, does wedding arrangements and bouquets, both fresh and silk.

The busiest holidays at Wickert, perhaps unsurprisingly, are Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and the Christmas season.

“Probably from Thanksgiving on, we’re doing pine centerpieces,” said Linzmeier, adding that poinsettias last through the season, too.

Wickert Floral also offers a private decorating service for homes and businesses at Christmastime.

Delivery is always available to surrounding areas. While the owner, Kurt Almonroeder, currently works for the school system in Hannahville, the shop’s part-time delivery driver is retired from teaching.

“Delivery is the best job here, I have to say,” said Louis, “because you get to give flowers to people. They smile at you.”

Another staff member who makes deliveries also takes care of some daily operations and tech for Wickert. Yet another employee, the newest, painted the mural on the side of the shop, which is located on a corner at 230 Stephenson Ave.

Originally, the Wickert Floral company was established by Walter Wickert in 1922. Walter and Hazel Wickert had greenhouses on the outskirts of town and a storefront at 1006 Ludington, which they sold to their daughter, Marge, and her husband, Paul Snyder, upon the Wickerts’ retirement. The Snyders ran the business for three decades and then sold to Gregg and Kay Johnson. In 2006, Gordon Cashen bought Wickert Floral.

In March of 2019, a spell of warm weather and rain caused trouble for several buildings in the area. One casualty of the rapidly-melting heavy snow was the Ludington shop that had housed Wickert Floral for just shy of a century. When its roof caved in, Cashen relocated to a temporary home in the Delta Plaza Mall.

The first mall space was tiny, and then a second location in the mall was huge, said Louis, who noted that she had had fun decorating the big space.

It wasn’t long before Almonroeder purchased the flower shop. In 2021, Wickert Floral moved to its current location on Stephenson.

Starting in October, Wickert is implementing a “Teachers’ Bi-Weekly Bouquet Program.” By submitting names through Facebook by direct message to Wickert Floral, people can nominate teachers who go “above and beyond,” and the teacher with the most votes will receive a fresh flower arrangement.

Another relatively-new adoption is that of a punch card of sorts — after buying five mixed-bunch bouquets, a shopper gets the sixth for free.

Wickert Floral is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.