Oregon Coast Waves - 1.5

NEWPORT FLORIST MOVES TO NEW LOCATION
ewport Florist and Gifts is in a new home, opening
in mid-September after making the move 1738 N
Coast Highway. It’s actually a location that has a
flowery history, having housed Barbara’s Blossom Shop for
many years before the building changed uses.
Shop owner Tarrah Richardson said the move to the former
florist shop “is really fun because a lot of people are excited
about that aspect of it, which I think is neat.”
Richardson said she had eyed that location several years ago.
“I’ve always been interested in this location. Before my
husband and I moved to the area, we kind of came on a tour
of the Oregon coast. And when we came to Newport, this spot
was available — that was like 2013. I looked at this space but
the rent was pretty high.”
Instead of opening her own florist shop at that time, she and
Ryan decided to open CrossFit Newport at 710 NE Third St.,
and Tarrah went to work for the former owner of Newport
Florist and Gifts, Carla Williams.
“I’ve been a florist for 26 years. Carla Williams hired me, and
by December 2014, I knew she wanted to sell. We bought it in
March 2015,” she said.
Tarrah and Ryan own and operate both businesses, and for
the last five years, she has been running the florist shop at
its previous location at Newport’s Bay Bridge Mall. Although
she liked that space, it was somewhat hidden from view, so
she began checking out other spaces. She and Ryan looked
are more than a half dozen locations and ultimately had the
opportunity to move to the spot they had looked at years
before. They spent almost two weeks doing interior work,
painting every single surface, pouring self-leveling concrete on
the floors, and installing a new front door and garage door.
“We’re going to put new fencing in back. It’s still in process,”
she said.
“This building is great. And one of the things I really love
about this space is I love to do classes, and it just has a lot more
room. And it has the space for the walk-in cooler.”
Richardson said, “The whole thing I would like to convey … is
Newport Florist is artistry with flowers. It’s about the art form
of floral design. That’s what really separates us from the things
you can get at the grocery store or whatnot.”