New flower shop to open in downtown, filling former Rockford Roasting Co. space
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A locally-owned flower shop where you can pick up a bouquet, get a personalized floral design or book a customized arrangement for your event is set to fill the original Rockford Roasting Co. space in downtown.
Hello Beautiful Flowers & Events plans to open Tuesday at 206 N. Main St., where Rockford Roasting had operated for nearly 9 years before consolidating its operations in March 2023 at Embassy Suites Rockford Riverfront a few blocks south. Hello Beautiful plans to host a grand opening celebration at noon on Oct. 5 with food, DJs, raffles and other activities.
Owner Sonia Rosa Concepcion, who goes by Rosa, is a Chicago native who came to Rockford about five years ago after working as an event planner and floral designer in her hometown of Chicago.
She started Hello Beautiful in April 2021, initially operating out of a warehouse on Ninth Street. The move to downtown is designed to allow for more walk-up business, connections with customers and partnerships with other small businesses to host their own pop-up shops inside Hello Beautiful.
Concepcion said she would rarely go downtown during her first few years in the city. She saw the potential for running her business downtown after attending last winter’s Stroll on State, the annual post-Thanksgiving holiday festival that brings thousands to the heart of the city.
“Once I saw how everything was downtown — the stores, the businesses, the restaurants — they were so into that festive mode,” Concepcion said. “I said, this is amazing. I want to be part of this. This is the area I want to be in.”
She’s been connecting with more downtown events since, including attending the weekly Rockford City Market.
The building is owned by Mark Podemski and Lucretia Ristin, who are busy renovating the old Palace Shoe Repair and adjacent Downtown Shoes & Boutique next door at 204 N. Main St. next to Hello Beautiful. That space is due to become a wine bar that sets out to deliver tastes from around the world.
Concepcion hopes the downtown location will help her make closer connections with customers. She takes pride in learning about her customers so she can create arrangements with a personal touch for the recipient.
“I like people, I want to get to know the people,” she said. “I like things where I can make it myself. You tell me about the person and let me run with it.”
Inside the shop is an emerald green interior with white details. You’ll also see coolers with flowers, a flower bar, workspace and candles or other items from small businesses.
“My vision is for a cute, clean flower shop,” she said.
The upstairs space can be rented for small events. Concepcion also plans to work with small businesses to have items in her storefront or use her space to host their own pop-up shops.
“When I started doing pop-up shops, I started to realize there’s a community of a lot of small businesses,” she said.
Concepcion is opening the space about two years after the death of her daughter, Anabell Rose Estrada, who had been her right hand in running the business previously.
Estrada died in August 2022 after she was incorrectly intubated following an asthma attack, Concepcion said. She was 20 years old.
She said it was difficult to return to work after her daughter’s death.
“One day I had a dream where she’s handing me lilies. She knows I hate lilies because lilies remind me of funerals,” she said. “The next day I got up and I said, this girl wants me to get back to work.”
Concepcion said her daughter would have loved the space she chose downtown, and she plans to keep an honor to her daughter’s memory inside the store.
About | Hello Beautiful Flowers & Events
Where: 206 N. Main St., Rockford
Grand opening: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
On the web: hellobeautifulflowershop.com
On Facebook: @HelloBeautifulFlowersandEvents
Contact: 815-205-2048; hello_beautiful_events@yahoo.com
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
