Meet Cydney English of Raleigh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cydney English.

Hi Cydney, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a third generation florist. I have been around flowers since I was literally in diapers. My grandmother had a shop and then my dad continued on in the business. I opened my own store with my husband, Warren, who also happens to be a third generation florist. His grandmother had a flower shop and his mom continued the family tradition.
We opened The English Garden in late 2006. And before you get all excited thinking that we’re British, his last name is English. We are Southern for sure.
I feel like I grew up on Main Street and I really try to bring that experience and that foundation to my company’s operations. It has been quite an adventure and not always an easy one, but the past two decades have been immeasurably rewarding. I have an incredible team made up of people from all walks of life ranging in ages from 19 to 72.
We specialize in daily deliveries throughout the triangle, beautiful wedding and events, and really fun floral design classes. Our goal has always been to be the Triangle’s flower shop and to help people find a sense of community and connection through the language of flowers.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We opened our business right before the recession of 2008-2009. We were one of only 3 businesses that were able to stay open in our shopping center which was really frightening. It was when we started to really focus on creating an online presence. Being in a traditional retail space in a high dollar shopping center was such a challenge, but we made it through and when our lease was up we moved to a less traditional location in a mixed use industrial business park. It was right before Valentine’s Day. I was terrified that no one would follow but we had the best Valentine’s Day and I knew we had made the right move. Fast forward and we had COVID. We went from year-upon-year growth to all of sudden not knowing if we were even going to be able to open our doors. Again, we were blessed with a stroke of luck. Florists were allowed to operate in limited capacity and after implementing the appropriate protocols we were able to pivot to safe, no contact delivery and online design classes which saw us through a period where half of our business (weddings) were at an almost complete pause. It’s taken almost five years to really recover from the effects of the pandemic. Now we are facing tariffs that have driven our every day flower prices up 10-15% overnight with forecasts that our hard goods (predominantly made in China and Southeast Asia) will skyrocket 50-80%. More than 80% of flowers and related hard goods needed in the florist industry are manufactured outside of the US. And before you ask, why not buy local? Well, we do. We buy 30-35% of our product locally during NC’s growing season but it will take years if not decades to see all flower, vase, and supply production return to the US (if that happens) and it will potentially limit the type of flowers available. It’s a big conversation and we want to meet it head on, but it is definitely frightening.
Being a small business owner is not for the faint of heart!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I own a flower shop. I am a third generation florist shop owner (though my business is my own and not the original family business). My husband is also a third generation florist shop owner. Both of our grandmothers started the families on that trajectory.
I am incredibly proud to carry on this family tradition but I am equally proud of putting my own stamp on things.
I opened a flower shop with the intent to design and while I still play what I think is an integral part in the design vision for the business my greatest achievement I feel as a business owner is learning how to build and grow a team and foster what I feel is a really wonderful dynamic with that team.
My florist, The English Garden, is a pretty unique place. We do daily deliveries, classes and lots of weddings and events. We source a lot of NC and regionally grown product in turn supporting lots of small family businesses. We practice what I call “relentless customer service” which in a nutshell is we are going to do everything we can to make sure we have happy and repeat customers.
The EG (as we call it) is packed with flowers. We are flower junkies and on any given day may have as many as 200 different varieties of flowers and foliage in the store!

How do you think about luck?
As I noted in the challenge section, I think luck has come our way during the recession period, the pandemic and hopefully again, during the tariff period now. BUT, I believe sweat equity is the only way you really build something that lasts. I work a lot, I work hard, and there is not any function of my business that I will not willingly and earnestly do. From design to delivery to sweeping the floor to cleaning the bathroom, I’m happy to do it all. I think the only way you build a team that is invested in your vision is to show that you are invested in your team and your business. When you roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty but you do it with joy, others will too!

Now on a personal business I think I am incredibly lucky. I’ve gotten to hike on five continents (and survive bad altitude sickness on two of them) and I’ve gotten to run in 38 states on my way to finishing half marathons in all 50 states. I have a wonderful partner-Warren, incredibly talented daughter-Vivienne and a super cool dog Juniper. And I have a wonderful circle of friends and, literally, the best work family anyone could dream of at The EG. I consider myself lucky and blessed everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://englishgardenraleigh.com
• Instagram: englishgardenraleigh
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnglishGarden
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cydney-davis-english-b0b6b814/
• Other: floweringnc.com (our classes website)