Shop of the Week: Henbury Pet & Garden Supplies, Henbury

Henbury Pet & Garden Supplies is an independent business run by married couple Maria and Kevin.

As of this year, the shop has been open for 24 years at their current location.

Initially selling handmade rabbit hutches and other animal enclosures from their home in Wiltshire, the couple eventually moved to Bristol.

They started selling a variety of pet food and supplies for dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and other wildlife.

Over the years, the pair have increasingly incorporated gardening and hardware tools into their stock, as well as a selection of plants and of course, Maria’s growing floristry business.

Pet-Alls Florists: Chloe (pictured left) and Maria (pictured right)

The aptly-named Pet-Alls Florists is located within Henbury Pet & Garden Supplies’ shop, selling a variety of floral arrangements for funerals, weddings, gifts and other occasions.

Now, Pet-Alls makes up a large proportion of the business, reflected by their popular social media pages and glowing reviews.

Maria learned floristry in-house from a florist she employed when the shop first opened and has since gone on to train three florists to NVQ standard.

Chloe, who currently works in Pet-Alls, trained through an apprenticeship with Maria and has since been with the business for five years.

Henbury Pet & Garden Supplies share that they’ve raised more than £800 via ‘spare change’ for Bristol ARC during their 24 years.

Henbury Pet & Garden Supplies is clearly a hub for the local community; a steady flow of customers visit the shop during my time there and Maria knows them all by name.

“They’re the best,” says Penny, one of the visiting customers. “And I’m not just saying that because you’re here.”

The highly-personalised nature of floristry is reflected in how Pet-Alls consults with potential clients, encouraging them to come into the shop so they can get a sense of their personality and understand exactly what they’d like.

Maria explains how this is particularly important for funeral flowers: “It’s all to do with imagery, how the family will look back on the day and how they felt.”

Due to knowing so many locals, the pair often know people’s flower preferences ahead of time. Freesias are popular, as are roses and chrysanthemums.

In addition to classic arrangements, Chloe gets to create a lot of the special tribute orders; she’s previously made a koi fish, a robin, a Thatchers Cider arrangement and plenty more.

“I’ve seen a lot of people go over the years, but I get to meet their families and then they come to me for flowers.

“There’s quite a nice little community down here and we’ve got lots of new people coming into the area,” Maria shares.

On the motivation behind Pet-Alls Florist: “Flowers make people happy at the end of the day”

It is evident how rewarding Maria finds floristry. With plenty of experience talking to families, she eventually hopes to get into bereavement counselling.

“Not only do I help people with the flowers, but to have that personal touch where someone can talk to you and you ask them how their feeling is so important as well,” she says.

In many instances, her investment in her work goes beyond a love of flowers.

During COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 when florists were unable to access flower suppliers, Maria instructed people over the phone on how to make sheathes using flowers from the supermarket, so that they would have something to put on the hearse of their loved ones.

The majority of the shop’s trade comes from word-of-mouth recommendations.

When an Aldi was built nearby, Maria petitioned and spoke in council to get parking spaces installed along the road, concerned that the row of independent businesses on Crow Lane would otherwise lose foot traffic.

“We try to do what we can for the community.

“With independents, it’s your livelihood and you need to be bringing that money in.” she said.

In spite of competition from supermarkets, particularly during Valentines and Mother’s Day events when flowers are discounted, Maria says that she is unphased.

“We sold hundreds of roses again this year, because we have repeat business and people know what they’ll get from us – they’ll last for a long time and they are made with love, at the end of the day.”

Henbury Pet & Garden Supplies, 153 Crow Lane, Henbury, BS10 7DR.

All photos: Kyra McClarnon

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