The Strack & Van Til floral department has been changing the florist game for years, providing beautiful, fresh, high-quality flowers for every occasion to the community. While business has been continually growing, the department still remains a hidden gem to many.
Strack & Van Til has one of the widest selections of flowers among the best quality in the area. Each Strack’s location receives flower deliveries four out of five business days during the week from Ecuador and Columbia. For seasonal and gardened center products, supplies are local or are shipped from one of Indiana’s neighboring states. And twice a year, floral designers in Strack & Van Til's floral departments attend workshops taught by highly regarded designers in the industry.
This season, rover and tri-colored mums, fall daisies and poms, sunflowers, and fall seasoned bouquets have been flying off of the shelves.
The floral department offers daily specials, including their most popular deal— three blooms for $12 mix and match— which allows customers to come in and customize their own bouquet.
Planning ahead? Customers can even pre-order an assortment online or by calling into the store. Strack & Van Til offers free delivery on all Online orders over $30.
Passing through on their way to pick up groceries, Strack’s customers have been known to pick up a bouquet here and there for their sweeties, but what many passersby don’t know is that the floral department also caters to weddings and funerals. Each arrangement can be personalized and made special for the respective event.
“Our prices can beat any florist shop in town, and on top of that, we are always willing to go above and beyond to personalize each assortment for our customers,” said Jen Knoche, Director of Floral at Strack & Van Til.
Interested customers are encouraged to come into the store to plan for upcoming special events. For weddings, the floral department designer schedules a professional bridal consultation in order to get a clear idea of what the bride is dreaming of for her special day.
“I like being able to sit down and customize exactly what the bride wants. Because it is such a big day for them, I spend a lot of time making sure the assortments are just right,” said April Yanez, Floral Designer at Strack & Van Til. “I’m very involved with my brides. I check in all the time to keep them in the loop with things. And best of all– I can make dreams come true on tight budgets.”
Strack’s also caters to local proms, homecomings, and formal high school dances.
“For Valpo homecoming this year, we had over 200 orders combined at both Valparaiso store locations, on top of two weddings that weekend. We’ve been really busy, but it’s exciting to see our business continue to expand as the word about what we offer spreads within the community,” Knoche said.
One of Knoche’s favorite activities is rearranging the shop offerings every Monday and putting new deliveries out on display.
“It’s always exciting to rebuild and re-merchandise each week and flip around the shop,” Knoche said.
Coming up in December, Strack & Van Til will be hosting a customer floral design class on Wednesday, December 11 at 6 p.m. at the Valparaiso location on Calumet. Strack’s decided to partner with Kathy Ricke, owner of Blessings & Blooms, for the new classes. Each class will focus on designing a floral arrangement and providing insight on how to style the arrangements in their homes.
The December workshop will feature a gorgeous, unique Christmas arrangement pictured below.
Tickets are now available on the Strack & Van Til website under the classes tab, listed at $25 per seat. Hurry over to the website today to secure your spot, as the class is limited to the first 20 people that sign up.
