Discovering Ronnie's Flowers

52 minutes ago

4 min read

Photo by: Laura Hodges

Sarelia Rios had an extraordinary marketing market even before her business, Ronnie’s Flowers, opened its doors in May.

“I wanted to document the journey of getting this space together,” said Sarelia of her cozy corner shop at 702 W. Main St. She did that with frequent videos of herself at work, posted on her social media.

By the time she was ready to greet the first customers in mid-May, hundreds of people had watched her paint the walls of her retail space hot pink, carefully uncrate pottery vases and go through the other steps of opening a small store. Her social media fans were primed and ready. When Sarelia first set her pink “Bloom Bar” umbrella cart outside her door, her online friends were poised to become customers.

Photos by: Laura Hodges

Sarelia had been arranging flowers for friends as a hobby for some time. “I had a plan for the place and for the flower shop. I wanted to be different from other florists,” she said. “I wanted everyone to go through the journey with me.” The florist uses TikTok, Facebook and Instagram; a website is in the works. She currently has more than 3,800 followers on Facebook.

She also tries to maximize her presence on Google. She updates her Google page with current photos, and updates the description as her business expands. She offers a self-critique: “I need to be asking for Google reviews. That’s the number one thing. And making sure they’re positive.”

Photo by: Laura Hodges

Recently, her social media showed Sarelia preparing an ofrenda (altar) in her store for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), widely observed by Hispanics on Nov. 1-2, to pay respect to family members, friends and even pets who have passed. “It is a tradition in my culture that this day is the day that the veil drops between the earth and the death world … It’s a celebration, but not in a paranormal, evil way.”

The ofrenda has three levels, representing the spirit world, the earth world and the heavens. In addition to photographs of the deceased, the ofrenda is decorated with papel picado (tissue paper banners) and strong-scented cempasuchil (marigolds) to guide the spirits back to the living world.

“I’m trying to represent my Hispanic heritage,” she said. Sarelia thinks she may be the only Hispanic business owner in downtown Madison.

Photo by: Laura Hodges

People often ask who Ronnie is. That would be Sarelia’s loyal Black Labrador, who sometimes accompanies her to work. She also has a Golden Retriever named Rust, but she draws the line at having both big dogs in the store at the same time. Sarelia offers a special arrangement called “Ronnie’s Flower Bouquet.” Part of the proceeds from those sales goes to the Jefferson County Animal Shelter.

Sarelia has a BA degree in marketing and professional sales from Indiana University Southeast. She had previously attended Shawe Memorial High School and Ivy Tech State College. After graduation, she built websites and had side marketing jobs. For the year before she opened Ronnie’s Flowers, she was doing marketing for Royer Corporation of Madison. All her experiences have come in handy for pursuing her dream of opening a flower shop.

Asked about her advice for other small business owners, Sarelia said, “Don’t be afraid to get in front of a camera. My videos are just me talking while I work – letting the audience be part of the process. It gets people excited.” She uses an app called Capcut to do light editing before posting, as well as the in-app tools on TikTok and other social media.

“Don’t be afraid to post a lot. I sometimes post three times a day. You don’t control the algorithm, so you don’t know what people are seeing.”

Photo by: Laura Hodges

Sarelia loves what’s she’s doing now. “My flowers – for me – it’s like art. My designs are different,” she says. Her work is getting her noticed around town. One recent weekend, she arranged flowers for three weddings. She has learned this year that she can’t do it all. Although she is the only designer in her business, she has added help to deal with busy times.

Sarelia always finds time to share her skills with others by leading “Sip and Stem” classes at Lanthier Winery. In October there were two sessions on creating a fall ceramic pumpkin centerpiece. The next hands-on class will focus on flowers for the Thanksgiving table.

Tickets are available through MadTix or through her Facebook page.

Ronnie’s Flowers can be reached at 812-599-5262. Hours at the store are: 10 a.m. to p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; closed on Sunday.

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