Company Flowers and Gifts Too!

Company Flowers and Gifts Too! has been part of Langston Boulevard for over 32 years. Their first location opened in 1992 in the historic Lee Heights shops. Nine years later, Company Flowers moved to their current address in Cherrydale, another historic shopping center that houses several legacy businesses.

When owner Marnie Nicholson’s last child went off to college, she turned her side projects of arranging flowers into a small business. She wasn’t initially sure she wanted to be a florist, but after fourteen years of arranging flowers for her church, parties, and events, Marnie’s friends urged her to start. At the time, a friend had just started a catering business in DC, where Marnie rented space for a couple of years, creating arrangements for the catering business. As the business grew and Marnie became more successful, she decided to open a storefront. A chance discussion at a party in Arlington led her to a recently vacated flower shop in the Lee Heights Shops. She and her husband jumped at the opportunity, starting Company Flowers in 1992 just a couple of days after finding the shop.

Company Flowers and Gifts Too! has become known for its wide variety of products and its signature English country garden style. Marnie believes that the style is unique from other flower shops in the neighborhood, helping them succeed. Through the years, the company evolved to meet the neighborhood's needs, adding gifts and cards over time. Marnie feels that being in this community has been a good thing for her business. The Langston Boulevard communities have been very supportive; many of her customers have become close friends.

Support of charity events and a partnership with Culpepper Gardens have helped the business grow and become more integrated with the community. Company Flowers has also hired generations of local high school students as staff. Marnie thinks that the value of legacy businesses like hers is this integration. They become established entities in the community customers come to because they know they will get a good, honest product.

Marnie says that flower shops are full of memorable moments. Weddings and local events are common, but Company Flowers has also handled much larger projects. They were the official florist for the opening of the Arlington Convention Center, which saw most of her staff onsite for three days before the event. They also did the flowers at the Library of Congress for the State of the Union for five years straight; some of those arrangements were seven to eight feet tall.