MONTROSE – Rachel Schmucker only opened Dahlia Florals a little over a week ago, but business is already booming – or blooming – she says.

Since opening her doors on June 20, Schmucker has already booked a wedding, a funeral, a baby shower and a quincinera, in addition to people just stopping to chat or buy flowers.

“We’ve had so many people welcome us to Main Street,” she said.

The shop specializes in cut flowers for any occasion, Schmucker said, and also offers a variety of house plants, some of which bloom.

“Flowers are our specialty, and we do weddings, funerals, baby showers, anniversaries, corporate parties, and formal dinner parties,” she said.

Schmucker’s partner in the business venture is Laura Burris, who Schmucker calls her “creative designer.” Burris will return to her main job as principal at Johnson Elementary, where Schmucker taught third and fourth grades this past school year.

But Schmucker won’t return to teaching, she said, and will make the flower shop her main focus.

Schmucker said she learned the trade while working for Rocky Mountain Floral in Gunnison while she was attending Western State.

“I didn’t think I would be able to open my own business, but with budget cuts, I was not sure I would have a job,” she said of her new job.

But first she did her research and decided there was a market for another flower shop in Montrose, which only had one before Dahlia Florals opened its doors.

Schmucker said she’s already joined the Montrose Association of Commerce and Tourism and looks forward to getting involved in the Downtown Development Authority

The shop’s location is where a bookstore was in business for many years, but recent tenants haven’t lasted long. There’s limited parking at the busy corner, but it hasn’t turned out to be a problem, Schmucker said.

“We have parking in the alley and across the street at AutoZone,” she said. “And it’s free advertising since this one of the busiest intersections in town. That outweighed inconvenient parking.”

Schmucker stores her cut flowers in a big walk-in cooler in the back of the store, just past a table and chairs set up for consultations. In the front of the store, a smaller cooler in a corner displays bouquets.

She tries to buy locally as much as possible, Schmucker said, and her main wholesaler for flowers is Orchard Mesa Greenhouse in Grand Junction.

“What I can’t get there I go through Rocky Mountain Floral,” she said. “They import from all over the country and also from South America.”

But much of the store features not only flowers, but home décor items and a few pieces of furniture, like a painted rust-colored armoire and an antique wooden wine rack. A few small paintings are along the walls, and décor pieces like old watering cans painted with nature scenes dot the store, some sitting on vintage dressers and other furniture.

The idea is for people to feel at home when they walk in, Burris said.

“We hope people can feel our energy,” she said. “Our whole vision is to bring the highest quality flowers with extremely competitive prices.”