July 21, 2010
by Ogi Overman
According to a well-worn adage, once God closes one door he opens another. No one believes in the veracity of that saying more than Mickey Atkinson, owner of Sedgefield Florist. In 1998 he had come to a crossroad in life and began praying for guidance, for open and closed doors. Within a day, the door that had just been shut got replaced with not one but two opportunities.
“My wife, who was working at Sedgefield Florist part-time, said that the owner was thinking about selling it and she wanted to talk about our buying it,” he recalled. “Then, that afternoon, the principal at Asheboro High School called and invited me in for an interview.”
To condense the story, Atkinson still owns the florist and taught at Asheboro until his retirement two years ago.
“God answers prayers,” he said succinctly. And now, at age 54, Atkinson is ready to open another chapter in his book of life by moving the longtime Groometown Road business to 5002-A High Point Rd. in the Hunt Village at Sedgefield shopping center. Moreover, not only is he doubling his square footage and getting a more visible location, he is embarking on, to the best of his knowledge, something that has never been done before. He is making the new Sedgefield Florist into a drive-thru facility. Located in the end unit of the L-shaped center, the 2,400 sq. ft. location seems ideally situated for the venture.
“We had to do some pretty invasive construction to put in the display window as well as the drive-thru window,” he said, “but luckily my brother Chuck, who's doing the work, knows what he's doing. Also, I credit (property owner) George Ragsdale for having the trust in letting this happen. It's a big undertaking and a lot of work.”
Fortunately, Atkinson is no stranger to work. After graduating from Southern Guilford High and Greensboro College, he embarked on a 20-year teaching and coaching career at his alma mater, 10 of those as the head football coach for the Storm (Atkinson's teams were actually called the Indians). After buying the florist he pulled double duty, teaching during the days and managing the store evenings and weekends. He has also been a youth pastor and Sunday school teacher at South Elm Street Baptist Church for most of that span.
In fact, he sees this move as a continuation of his ministry, even using his longtime words to live by - “Love. Forgive. Be a Blessing.” - as part of his new logo.
“One of my former Sunday school students designed it,” he said. “He came up to me and said, ‘Coach, if you think about it, that's what a florist is. You send love to folks, maybe someone needs forgiveness, or you're just trying to make a better day for someone.' I've always used a verse from Colossians on our business cards, ‘Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as for the Lord, not for men,' so this little saying seems equally appropriate.”
Atkinson has set Monday, July 26, as the official grand re-opening, although he said it would be more of a soft opening.
“It will have to be soft because our inventory is not quite right,” he noted. “We missed out on the July gift shows because of preparing for the move, but once we get all our gift items in, we'll run some serious specials. We have a good line of plush and Teddy bears and an extensive array of house plants, and the day may come where it's an easy transition into offering coffee and wine and chocolates. But let's reinvent this wheel first before we invent another one.”
The florist has always and will continue to be a family enterprise.
“My daughters (Jessica and Jo) are natural designers,” he smiled. “They do some amazing work, and they'll handle sales as well. Helen used to keep the books but she's turned that over to the daughters. And one of God's gifts to me is that I seem to have a knack for being an administrator. So now all Helen will have to do is come in and clean up our messes and gently oversee the operation. I'd been thinking about moving for awhile, and when they all agreed to stay with it, that made the decision a lot easier.”
While Atkinson is delighted with the interior color scheme of red, brown and faux gold the daughters came up with, he gets almost giddy when talking about the 9X6 cooler that will adorn the drive-thru.
“It will have three shelves with buckets of loose flowers, 15 or so pre-made arrangements, and some pre-made bouquets,” he said. “I'm thinking price points of $10, $20, $25 and $30, as well as a dozen roses for $60. All you have to do is pull up, point one out, and be on your way. Of course, we feel we'll get a lot of walk-in traffic too at this location, but the convenience of a drive-thru is unbeatable.”
The easy going, affable Atkinson feels that the timing is right for the venture, even in a down economy and even with the High Point Road widening project set to begin next year.
“I bought Asheboro Florist last year right in the heart of the recession when nobody was spending any money, and it's done OK,” he revealed. “We've already created a niche for ourselves with weddings, which have tripled since I retired from teaching. We used to have a standalone building before the Groometown Road widening forced us to move into the shopping center, so I hope this recaptured visibility for walk-in and the convenience of the drive-thru will create another niche for us. We may get lucky, but we won't really know until we get up and running.”
Chances are, given the florist's established name and good reputation, coupled with the novelty and convenience of a drive-thru, those factors will override the bad economy. But if not, God will simply open another door.
Ogi Overman can be reached at (336) 841-4933 or jtowneditor@northstate.net.
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