Let us introduce you to Flower Bar, a one-of-a-kind floral haven in Minneapolis. Founded by Andrea Corbin in September 2022, Flower Bar is more than just a flower shop – it’s a place where art, nature, and community intertwine to create a new floral and gift experience.
Corbin’s vision is to offer personalized flower experiences for her customers, an idea crafted around open-concept European floral shops that invite customers to walk up, interact with the flowers, and create their own hand-tied bouquets. The new Uptown shop was inspired by her childhood overseas in Japan and Europe while she traveled with her missionary parents. Combining her background in interior design, construction, and a personal passion for flowers, the Flower Bar was born.
For Corbin, the contrast between flower shopping overseas and in the states stems directly from the waste that comes from creating arrangements with traditional western bouquets. Throwing out unwanted buds and keeping others is an unnecessary waste to Corbin, and one that is eliminated by the shop’s pick-your-own-flowers method. Customers are welcomed to 40-50 different varieties of flowers for bouquet-making needs at any given time.
Corbin’s personal touch washes over every aspect of the shop and its design. From hand-picking every knick-knack and flower in the shop to designing the bookcase displaying a variety of the goods for sale and choosing the wallpaper brightening the shop, her attention to detail creates a warm and inviting ambiance for customers to explore during their floral experiences.
At Flower Bar, local artists and creators use the space as a source of inspiration. Whether it be other florists collaborating on creating the bouquets or cake bakers choosing buds to incorporate in their buttercream designs, Corbin envisions the Flower Bar as a place where different artists, florists, and creatives can come together to interact and inspire each other.
Recently, she started working with Jessica Zator, a local watercolor painter who hosts painting classes at the shop.
While the Flower Bar offers customers creative freedom in their own floral arrangements, they also offer the ability to have their arrangements crafted by the experienced florists working in the shop. In fact, about 70 percent of the shop’s clientele prefer to have the pros create their one-of-a-kind bouquet, but Corbin and her team always add a personal touch to each arrangement. Price point, type of occasion, and favorite flowers and colors are just a few of the elements taken into consideration.
With summer just around the corner, Corbin and her team are working with local farmers and flower growers to bring in fresh and Minnesota-only flowers. Depending on the season, Flower Bar tries to carry as many locally grown blooms as possible, but collaborates with international wholesalers like Koehler and Dramm, too.
The Flower Bar offers a range of other gifts that make the flower haven a one-stop-shop for any go-to gift needs. Besides the ability to make unique, hand-tied bouquets, the shop offers a variety of one-of-a-kind gifts from up-and-coming artisans around the world. From greeting cards (all priced at $3.99) to bubble candles from Denmark or hand-painted wooden ducks from London, the Flower Bar curates a collection of distinctive gifts alongside the floral offerings.
Be sure to keep an eye out for what the Flower Bar has in store. Make-your-own corsage, boutonniere, and flower crown classes will be heading to their Uptown location for prom season, and the Flower Bar always offers at-home flower bar experiences for parties and gatherings that are in need of a floral boost. Call, book, and your very own bouquet-making assortment can be dropped at your door.