Dandelions is open at 120 S. Walnut St. Muncie, IN 47305 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays. Their phone number is (765) 289-6363.
Editor's note: Muncie Origins is a Ball State Daily News series profiling various businesses that originated in Muncie.
Nestled between AOS Staffing and Kirk's Bike Shop, Dandelions Flowers and Gifts offers an inviting atmosphere. Inspirational wall art and other gifts line a path to a display case full of fresh flowers, awaiting their chance to be made into a beautiful arrangement.
Located in downtown Muncie, Dandelions Flowers and Gifts seeks to serve brides and the community through floral arrangements and unique gifts.
Owner Lisa Pritchett bought the store from her father 22 years ago, which was previously located in the Village under the name Gordon’s Flowers. Flowers are delivered six days per week and can come from Indianapolis or South America.
“We like to think of floral design as a little bit of a piece of art, so we kind of approach it from that standpoint instead of just your average carnation [and] baby’s breath in a vase,” Pritchett said. “We probably have about 75 different varieties [of flowers] each day.”
Pritchett estimates only about 20% of Dandelions’ sales comes from the gifts sold in the retail space. She travels to markets to find products to sell that are unusual and are hand-crafted or look hand-crafted.
“If we see something is close to something that a big box store would carry, we immediately discontinue that item,” Pritchett said. “We like to set ourselves apart — I want people to think of us as an unusual, unique gift shop … we strive to find different things.”
Pritchett has three employees, including lead designer Lee Ann Symmes, who has worked at the store for over a decade.
Symmes attended floral design school but did work in another field before getting hired at Dandelions.
Symmes works with customers who know exactly what kind of floral arrangements they want as well as customers who have no idea what they’d like, and she is able to help those customers plan out the vision in their head.
“Being a creative person, you have all these little voices in your head that tell you all these ideas and things, so this gives you an outlet to use all of those things and have fun with it,” Symmes said.
Dandelions supplies all of Ball State’s commencement flowers, but the biggest event Dandelions does each year is a fundraiser for Meridian Health Services called Rialzo. The event features over 100 centerpieces and stage pieces.
“That’s the rewarding part — to look back," said Pritchett. "All your planning has come together, all the things that you’ve envisioned for that day, and then of course later that week or that evening when people that hired you have said they love it, they’re so thrilled [and] can’t wait to see what we do next year — that’s it for us.”
Both Pritchett and Symmes meet with clients so they can collaborate and share ideas to help the client.
“You do things for somebody ordering flowers for a friend of theirs that’s going to die … you take a lot of responsibility … you want it to be beautiful,” Symmes said. “Or to work with a bride and her mother and to have them come back to you and say 'it was everything I dreamed of' … having them hug you and cry because they’re so happy. You get to work with all different kinds of things … it runs the gamut of emotions.”
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