By Norine Longo
Simcox’s Flowers has a bit of English spice known as Pauline Eaton.
Eaton is the owner of the shop and moved to the U.S. in 1980 from Blackburn, England. At the shop, her accent has become popular with its employees and customers, but she is a good sport about the fun.
She owned Windy Hills Kennel in Allentown for 17 years, but sold it to pursue her passion for flowers and plants.
After Eaton and her daughter, Kelly Eaton, attended floral design school in Howell, she bought Simcox’s Flowers on Hamilton Avenue, what she described as “An old shop with new ideas.”
In October 2009, Simcox’s Flowers moved to its new location on Kuser Road.
Eaton will have owned and worked at Simcox’s Flowers for 6 years in November, although the business has served the area since 1927.
The shop offers flowers and arrangements for all occasions, does silk arrangements upon request and assembles gift baskets.
Eaton said their website, simcoxsflowers.com, which displays products and has ordering capabilities, has received a lot of attention from the community.
Even if people don’t make their order online, they can call with the item number for the arrangement and make the purchase in person.
Eaton said the flower shop’s employees do a little bit of everything. They are B.L. Toth, who was dubbed “BLT” by customers and “Bubsy” by Eaton, Fred Yaede, Marianne Keegan and Kelly Eaton.
Employees like keeping things fresh, Eaton said.
“We’re funny here, we have fun and offer a lot of humor, free of charge,” she said.
She said they love when customers come in and tell them an idea they have for an item and they can just run with it.
“We love creating. We get to do something different that really pays off,” she said. “The customers love it and it’s a little more personal.”
A favorite of theirs is the designer’s choice option, which puts the design control in the hands of the pros at the shop. Eaton said a lot of men opt for this option.
“They know we’ll put it together in a beautiful way for them,” she said. “We’ll pick the freshest flower that looks the prettiest.”
Eaton said if the shop doesn’t have something the customer requests, they will go out and get it for them. Sometimes, people bring in something they want Simcox’s to use in an arrangement.
She said in the past, people have brought in items that have special meaning to them that they’ll incorporate into the finished product.
“We really talk to them and find out their needs,” said Eaton.
She said they try to get to know customer and what they like to make gifts unique and personal.
Eaton buys flowers from a local farm and always likes to have a fresh stock in the coolers for customers and walk-ins.
She said popular flowers for summertime are wildflowers, hydrangeas and sunflowers and that they have items for teachers and grads that are inexpensive and make great gifts.
Simcox’s Flowers is located at 1561 Kuser Road in Hamilton and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call (609) 587-8280 or go online to simcoxsflowers.com.
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