Hsu’s Ginseng deeply rooted in Marathon County
A lifetime of achievement
July 21, 2025
EAU CLAIRE – From creating wedding arrangements out of his home, to becoming an all-occasion florist at a brick-and-mortar shop at 610 South Barstow St., Brent Douglas – owner of Brent Douglas Flowers – said he started working for a local florist while in high school and officially started his own shop in 2003, at just 23 years old.
“Growing up, I really liked gardening and flowers – I was gardening in my diaper,” he said. “When I graduated from high school, I wanted to be in something along the lines of gardening, so I started landscaping. I then went into the floral world, delivering arrangements.”
Though he has attended a number of classes in design over the years, Douglas said he has never enrolled in a formal business school.
Over the last nearly 20 years, Douglas said he learned many business lessons, including – perhaps most importantly – what not to do.
“There was one flower shop I worked for where the owner taught me [valuable lessons in] what not to do in a business,” he said. “I realized that by learning from how other people are operating a business, I was capable of doing this.”
Douglas said he started Brent Douglas Flowers out of his garage – creating flower arrangements for weddings and other events – until a deal he couldn’t pass up prompted a move.
“I came across a place to rent for $250 a month,” he said.
Industry fluctuation
Due to the dynamic nature of the industry – often dependent on the time of year – Douglas said the shop started focusing on another aspect of the business: sympathy.
“The amount of time we put into special events like weddings has changed a lot,” he said. “For day-to-day business, the sympathy work, [including funerals], has increased and comprises almost 25% percent of our total [sales].”
The shop’s relationship with funeral homes, Douglas said, has evolved over the years.
“When people go to look at an obituary [on a funeral home’s website], they can place an order for flowers [from Brent Douglas Flowers] right there,” he said. “Then the funeral home sends the order to us.”
When working on an arrangement for someone who is grieving, Douglas said, “there’s a lot of emotion.”
“The emotions that are associated with flowers, and the many occasions in which to give them, are unlimited,” he said.
Additionally, about 60% of the shop’s business, he said, is generated from online orders.
Beyond in-store sales, its partnerships with funeral homes and the shop’s own website sales, Douglas said Brent Douglas Flowers also receives orders through third-party sites – “1-800-Flowers, for example.”
Amongst all of those sale points, he said the shop’s top seller is what they call the “designer’s choice.”
“It’s where customers just trust us to do what we do best,” he said. “Other popular arrangements include Bright Blooms, which is probably one of our top-selling options on our website, followed by Cute and Simple. [Another choice called] Uplifting makes it to the top as well.”
Supply, Douglas said, plays a big role in running a successful floral business.
“For example, we may get a certain kind of flower in for a week or two, so we [incorporate those into our designer’s choice arrangements],” he said.
Brent Douglas Flowers’ geographic scope, Douglas said, covers about a 35-mile radius from the store for everyday business – but said he will travel farther for weddings.
“We have gone as far as Green Bay, Minneapolis and Miami, Florida,” he said.
In the flower business, Douglas said things can get “really crazy, really quickly” – especially with last-minute orders.
“[However], when it comes to [sympathy] work, one of my rules is that I never want to, nor can I, turn away somebody who’s coming to us looking for flowers for a loved one who has passed,” he said. “[To me], it’s kind of morally wrong.”
With that said, balancing the various aspects of the business, Douglas said, has been a learning process.
“We used to take eight to 10 weddings in a weekend, which wasn’t a big deal for us,” he said. “But now that we have the funeral aspect of business, and its growth, we have to limit it. Now, we usually agree to three to four weddings a weekend – [which we have determined] is our maximum.”
The challenges that Brent Douglas Flowers has faced, Douglas said, are no different than other florists.
“We are challenged with the perishable aspect of flowers, which has always confronted our industry,” he said. “We also face the seasonality of the business – especially when it comes to having the right amount of staff. There are times when we really could use [as many as] 20 staff, and then there are times in the summer, where I just want to have a couple of people.”
The flower industry as a whole, Douglas said, has weathered change, especially when looking at the supply side.
“In terms of supply [of flowers, etc.], things are readily available now – I don’t really have any concerns about being able to get my hands on things,” he said. “It’s the fluctuation of price where the market has changed. It used to be very consistent, specifically before the COVID-19 pandemic, everything was constant. And then during COVID-19, we couldn’t get things we needed, and now we face the challenge of price. Things are available, but costs are all over the board.”
This, Douglas said, requires a shop-around approach.
“We have different avenues for our supplies, like a local wholesaler or we buy directly from the manufacturer,” he said. “It really varies a lot.”
However, Douglas said he thrives on change and business growth, and is therefore always willing to add additional services.
“We have plans for floral arrangement classes,” he said. “We are also looking at creating more of a gallery in our store, which is about 3,000 square feet. We intend to have more artwork in our shop again. I like to change things up.”
‘Do what we say we will’
Douglas said there really isn’t a secret to the success the shop has built over the years.
“We are just trying to do the best we can do,” he said. “We try to do what we say we’re going to do and when we’re going to do it. We try to be consistent with our customers… The biggest thing we hope for is that people like our flowers.”
Douglas said his role in supporting customers is more behind the scenes than customer-facing.
“[Though] I don’t actually get out to deliver the flowers or go to a funeral or the wedding and see the final outcome of our work, the reviews and the notes that people send to us, along with the photos – that’s where I get the satisfaction,” he said. “It really lets us know, right then and there, that we’re doing a good job.”
Loving what he does, Douglas said, has inspired him to “keep going through different business challenges.”
“I do have a good support system,” he said. “My family and friends really help me out, including my sister, Nika Schwarz, who is the manager of the store.”
Furthermore, Douglas said he has received great support from the community, which he reciprocates by giving back to it what he can.
“We try to do as much as we can for the community,” he said.
At the end of the day, Douglas said he “loves designing flowers,” and it’s an honor to have people trust him with that.
“Whether it’s to show someone they love them or to try to give somebody hope – they come to us,” he said.
Visit brentdouglasflowers.com for more details.
