Eliza's Daisy

Since no one took the bait and responded (hey, it's early days yet, I'll build a following. eventually), I'll tell you how she did.

After a few years of trundling around St. James and now Mayfair and some other respectable neighborhoods, Eliza's built a nice reputation for herself. She's reliable and consistent and unique. Her supplier has cultivated a few other perfect flowers and bred them in all of the popular colors of the day so they have become de rigueur for society weddings and debuts and the like.

Unfortunately things in the flower market have become difficult. Other vendors have tried to sabotage or copy her business. Once even her entire supply of flowers was destroyed by an irate seller who was frustrated that she was the exclusive supplier of these perfect flowers.

So, since she's saved enough money, she decides to open a store. A place where she and her sister can live above and where her customers can easily find her. The place she buys also has a workroom where new creations and arrangements can be made. Most important, she has a beautiful sign made - a sign in the shape of a daisy that says "Eliza's Flowers." She hangs it over her door.

She also has card made with the daisy and places announcements in ladies newsletters, also using the daisy.

Pretty soon she's doing a thriving business. People are as interested in the lovely sign as the flowers themselves so she is inspired to add flower themed gift items and flower holders to her offerings. And for her special arrangements she even offers packages - flowers plus attractive containers. These are especially popular with the rising middle merchant class who are unlikely to have heirloom silver or crystal but do have aspirations to the good life.

After a few years business is so good that she's hired an arranger, opened two other locations so that her best customers - housekeepers of the good houses - don't have to leave their neighborhoods to get their weekly supply of perfect flowers. Plus she's worked out an arrangement with her supplier to do special order deliveries to out of town locations where the hoi summer or winter.

Her daisy is instantly recognizable on the side of his deliver cart, on the boxes and wrappers she uses to delivery her flowers and in the weekly special's advertisement.