Hartlepool’s shopping centre, Middleton Grange sees the opening of a new store, Floral Whispers in the Market Hall.
The store has been trading in the Market Hall with stalls as part of their business start-up plan and has proven to be a huge success, moving on from a stall in the Market Hall area to opening up a shop.
Floral Whispers is owned by Patricia Purvis and since opening, Patricia hasn’t looked back. Following a diagnosis of MS a few years ago, Patricia could no longer work in the healthcare field and decided on a new career path combining her creativity and love of flowers. After studying floristry, Patricia is showing at major flower festivals and opened up her own shop at Middleton Grange Shopping Centre.
“We offer flowers for all occasions as well as wedding packages, funerals and cater for all budgets whether fresh or artificial flowers. We like to be innovative also and have a Floral Whispers Bad Boyfriend Club mobile phone app where boyfriends in the ‘doghouse’ can order some flowers to help get them out of trouble with their better halves”
“Just to put a smile on people’s faces we have a Lonely Bouquet where we leave a bouquet of flowers with a ‘adopt me’ tag in a public place for anyone to pick up!”
Centre Manager Mark Rycraft comments “We are delighted that Floral Whispers are proving such a success with shoppers. Both stores have identified niche markets and are innovative in the products they sell. Starting a business in the Market Hall is an excellent way to begin trading and there are a number of incentives available from the local authority to assist with small business relief and Middleton Grange Shopping Centre offers excellent rates for business owners.”
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