Bit of a trip delivering flowers to Ashbury, actually. Andrew grew up just down the road in Summer Hill, used to catch the train from Ashbury station into Townhall. Reckons he must've walked past that little strip of shops on Liverpool Road about a thousand times. His mum, Ann, used to mention the old fruit shop that was there in the late 80's.
Never thought we'd be sending flowers back to his old stomping ground from up here in Kingscliff. Funny how things work out.
When you order flowers to Ashbury, your order pings through to one of our partner florists in the Inner West. Might be the one in Summer Hill - yeah, Andrew's old hood (and where he went to school) - or could be Burwood, Croydon, depends who's got the best stock that day. We're talking actual florists here, real shops you could walk into if you wanted. Not some warehouse with flowers sitting in buckets for days or that are made on a conveyor belt.
The florist we partner with there, they've been with us since 2013. They know the area, know which courier to use who won't leave your flowers baking on someone's doorstep. We check stock levels with them before confirming your order. Sometimes they'll ring us - "mate, I've only got 6 pink roses left today" - and we sort it out from there.
Been doing this since 2009, started with that daggy little shop in Kingscliff. Who knew it'd lead to sending flowers to Andrew's childhood neighborhood 15 years later.
> Read more about our daggy old flower & gift shop
The 1:30pm panic call is a classic. "My sister moved to Ashbury last month and it's her birthday TODAY." We get it. Same day delivery before 2pm weekdays, we'll sort you out.
Or the housewarming flowers. Loads of people moving to Ashbury from the eastern suburbs lately. Different vibe out there, bit more relaxed. Good spot for families. We send a lot of natives to Ashbury actually - maybe it's the Inner West thing, everyone wants banksia and proteas instead of roses these days.
Then there's the "sorry I stuffed up" delivery. Thursday afternoon, bloke orders $120 arrangement, you know something went down Wednesday night. No judgment here, we've all been there.
Mother's Day in Ashbury goes off too. All these adult kids who've moved away, sending flowers back to mum.
Look, I'll be straight with you about our reviews. We use Feefo - they're independent, we can't fake anything or delete the bad ones. Scared the hell out of us when we first signed up in 2013. Flowers are so subjective, right? What you think is lush and romantic, someone else might reckon is over the top.
We needed 50 reviews minimum to get their Trusted Service Award. We got over 3,000 last year. Still makes me nervous every time they send out that review email though. But that's the deal - real customers, real opinions, can't mess with it.
> Read more reviews (warts & all)
Order before 2pm on a weekday, the florist makes your arrangement fresh that morning or arvo. Local courier picks it up, someone who actually knows Ashbury, knows not to leave flowers sitting in the sun outside those terrace houses.
Delivery's $16.95 - you'll see it right there on the cart page, no surprises. Sometimes the florist might swap a flower if something's not fresh - like if you ordered stock but theirs looks a bit sad, they might chuck in lisianthus instead. Same vibe, just fresher.
We've got 800+ florists in our network now but it's still just me and Andrew making decisions at the dinner table. Well, sometimes while driving the kids to netball. No boardrooms, no marketing team. Just us.
Andrew still has a chuckle when an order comes through for Ashbury. "Remember that milk bar near the station?" he'll say. Yeah mate, they're getting flowers delivered right near there today.
Give us a call if you need flowers to Ashbury. We know the area - well, Andrew knows it like the back of his hand - and we'll make sure they get there fresh and on time. That's the promise. No fancy corporate speak, just flowers from our network to your person.