Florist hopes South Norwood is bloomin' wonderful

10:22am Sunday 12th October 2008

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An entrepreneur is gearing up for the grand opening of her new shop in South Norwood, after being impressed with the area.

Janet Edwards, who lives in Southwark, attended a business start-up event in November last year in South Norwood.

She was so impressed with the location and the ambitions of the district centre manager she decided she would fulfil her dream and open a flower shop.

Janet had previously only sold her floral arrangements at markets but had decided early in her career she wanted to run her own premises.

But she was adamant she would not compromise on location and needed a shop with good public transport links, and in an area with regeneration, and South Norwood fitted the bill.

She said: “Norwood is an up and coming area. It is getting the tube extension coming in 2010. It is an area that needs more businesses coming to it and I noticed there was no florist there.”

Just to make sure her faith in South Norwood was not misplaced, Janet did some test trading, getting feedback from customers and other businesses.

She embarked on opening the shop and received plenty of support and help from Croydon Enterprise.

They provided Janet with a business adviser, access to a Test Trade Grant and Business Growth Finance Team, advice from a business-friendly planner and a crime prevention audit undertaken on the premises.

She is now ready to open her doors to the public on Saturday, October 18, and has got local councillors Luke Clancy, Susan Bennett and Jane Avis on the guest list.

Janet hopes her investment in South Norwood will reap rewards and encourage others to open in the area.

She said: “There are a lot of buses and people who come through South Norwood to Croydon.

“If there were some more shops here people would stop and shop in South Norwood instead.

“They don’t want to have to travel all that way when they can get what they want locally.”

Maxine Cole, Chair of the South Norwood Business Partnership said, “I look forward to welcoming another high quality business into the district centre “Although trading is difficult for some businesses it is good to see that new ones are still choosing to open in South Norwood.”

Nadia Jones, District Centre Manager said, “I have had a number of residents tell me that there had previously been at least two florists in the area, so I’m happy that Janet has decided to open on the High Street and provide a service that we don’t currently have.

“She will also be selling giftware and a small stock of stationery which will be helpful, after the closure of Lorimer stationers earlier in the year.”