By Autumn Coleman
Medill Reports
Bruce Jasinski, 65, gives me a handmade bouquet with eucalyptus and orange lilies. Then, he serenades me on his flute with Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” and “Good as Hell.” His compact flower shop transforms into a private party for the two of us.
Jasinski explains this is typical for his atypical business. This florist offers a similar experience for all his customers, complete with an exclusive concert and bouquet for anyone who mentions the woodwind instrument.
Hundreds of flowers sit in every corner of his shop, the Flower Flat in Lakeview; handmade jewelry, dried flowers and flutes hang from vines that sprawl across the ceiling and gold-painted walls. The smell of fresh flowers is thick in the air, and Jasinski plays music on a speaker at a low volume in the background.
“I don’t even use price tags, you don’t see any of that on the flowers,” he said. “I consider that to be pollution and litter. Wouldn’t you rather see all these flowers and plants instead of just price tags?”
His shop is different from others in more ways than one. Jasinski greets customers when they arrive and asks them for a budget. Upon hearing a number, he whips up a handmade bouquet on the spot matching the requested value. He doesn’t sell anything pre-made.
Jasinski is the sole employee at the Flower Flat. He’s a self-taught florist, and his other interests are autodidactic as well. Jasinski practices the flute in his store and can be heard from the street spending quiet moments at the shop honing his skills to recordings of Lizzo.
The shop is tucked away under apartments on Addison Street in Lakeview. The plant and flower shop was a bustling part of the community from the ‘90s to 2012, when he sold the shop because he “got bored.” But in 2021, longtime Chicago resident Jasinski, brought the shop back to the original location. This time the business has been more successful than during its original run and Jasinski has stayed the same.
In the early ‘90s, Jasinski became well-known for selling dried flowers and got the attention of the Chicago Tribune for his popularity with customers. After many successful years at the Flower Flat, which was also previously a cafe and antique shop, Jasinski left. He sold the shop and moved back to suburban Joliet, his hometown. In his absence another flower shop popped up in the location.
After almost 13 years, Jasinski decided to bring the shop back in full force, keeping many things from its original heyday such as his love for plants and the people he sells them to. His philosophy behind the flowers comes across in the feel of his space. The walled garden style of decoration reflects his philosophy of putting the plants before material gain. His design of the store regularly receives compliments from newcomers.
“Valentine’s Day last year for me was crazy,” Jasinski said. “I was going all day. Afterward I went into the Jewel-Osco around the corner, and they still had flowers left. I was thinking, ‘Did people really choose me over Jewel on Valentine’s Day?’”
Jasinski says business has gotten better every year he’s been there. He is always seeing new faces in and out of his doors, greeting them as if they are new friends. His inviting nature welcomes all, but it’s clear he maintains a soft spot for his regulars. Dottie Gibson knew of Jasinski during his first stint in the shop but never walked in. Since he’s been back, they have gotten to know each other better.
“It started off as a business relationship … then you can’t help but to get to know him,” Gibson said. She also likes the reasonable prices for “beautiful creative flowers.”
For some customers it’s less about price and more about location. “It’s a homey experience even from the outside,” said Jason Stern, who has been shopping with Jasinski for two years. “It’s not a boxy storefront like other local businesses, and after talking to him once I decided to continue to support him.”
Stern began buying flowers from Jasinski after his partner died and he realized he wished he had bought her more flowers. Now he makes a point to give flowers to the important people in his life. “Every time I pass by the shop, I think about who I can give flowers to,” he said.
In Lakeview, there are many other flower shops for residents to choose from, but the prices at the Flower Flat are hard to beat. While others service customers with higher prices and nationwide shipping, Jasinski keeps his business local and affordable. He even lives down the street from the shop in a condominium he bought upon his return to Chicago.
“His way of doing flowers is so different,” said Maya Miller, a former flower assistant at the Flower Flat. “Bruce goes to the flower market and picks the most unique flowers. He doesn’t want what everybody’s gonna get at a Jewel or a Mariano’s. He selects them for fragrance, for longevity or their sturdiness. He’s always got an eye out for that, and he goes to several markets. Not every flower shop does that.”
Miller began working at the shop in 1993, after she happened to duck in on a rainy day while visiting friends in the neighborhood. She had been looking for a job when Jasinski offered her one at the shop. “I was like, ‘Well, I’m looking for a real job,’ and then I started that Monday and that was it,” Miller said. Now, she lives in Michigan and grows her own plants and herbs. She still comes back to help a few times a year on busy days like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
“He’s the kind of person that is like, ‘Check this out!’ and wants you to smell a crushed-up leaf that you would never crush and smell on your own, but suddenly it smells like bubblegum. It’s like going to Willy Wonka, but it’s flowers and plants,” Miller said.
This flower specialist advises customers on how to care for flowers, suggesting they trim the stems every few days with a fresh vase of water. He says flowers can last for two weeks this way. At the store patrons are allowed to bring in their own vases for him to fill.
Jasinski has always marched to the beat of his drum, often at the behest of others. If you listen, he’ll tell you about how he flunked first grade and how that teacher has made him question himself ever since. But his success with flowers has proven to him all he can do by being himself.
“I’ve decided I’m an artist, man,” Jasinski said. “And this is my art. This is my art studio now and I sell flowers and plants too.”
Autumn Colemen is a magazine graduate student at Medill.
