Craig painter gives life to Blooms Flower Shop’s new location

Blooms Flower Shop opened a new location downtown in early September of this year, and recently had local artist, Nini Shroyer, give the facade of the building a new life.

The move to the new building, located at 25 W. Victory Way, marks a new era for the floral shop. This November, Blooms will be celebrating its five-year anniversary.

“We’ve grown a lot in the last year,” said owner Christina Browning. “We started to run out of space in our last building. Business has been great.”

Blooms is looking to expand the business beyond flowers, too. They plan on adding a larger gift shop element to the store, encouraging customers to use Blooms as a one-stop-shop for all of their gifting needs. 

Plus, the extra space will allow for a separate consultation area for customers interested in using Blooms for weddings, funerals and other events.

But the new building wasn’t always the adorable store that it is now. In fact, some locals thought the old building was an eyesore.

Thanks to local artist Nini Shroyer, Blooms’ new building is now bursting with colorful paintings, adding more personality to the downtown area. 

“Nini painted our window and sign at our first building,” said Browning. “We loved what she did and knew that she was great. She also has a great reputation because of the other work that she has done downtown.”

Although Shroyer is retired, she sometimes will accept a project that particularly interests her.

“I decided to paint Blooms’ building because it sounded like a lot of fun,” she said. “I only paint canvasses on my own time these days”

Shroyer has been a painter her whole life. She picked up the hobby when she was 17 years old, but made it into a profession later in life.

“I was always the shy kid that went to their room to draw,” she said. “This is just what came from that.”

Shroyer dedicated over 30 years to painting murals and signs in the Craig area, adding life and charm to the town year-round. She did so much work for the community that she sometimes forgot which paintings were hers.

“One time my husband and I were driving around and I saw a tire cover with a painted wolf on it,” she said. “I told him ‘Wow, that’s cool. I wish I painted that,’ to which he said, ‘You did!’”

Shroyer was more than happy to give Blooms’ new location a facelift. According to her and Browning, it looks like a whole new place. 

“I think the paintings make everyone feel a little better,” Shroyer said. “And that makes me happy.”