Farmgirl Flowers: What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from the Blooming Startup Disrupting the Flower Delivery Industry

Do you want to know everything there is to know about Farmgirl Flowers? This guide will teach you about the company, the flowers they offer, and more. From pricing information to delivery options, this page has it all.

Buying flowers online isn’t anything new. But will the arrangement look as beautiful in person as on a website? And will the bouquet arrive fresh and last a long time? It will if you order from Farmgirl Flowers.

This brand doesn’t follow the traditional e-commerce flower company model. Instead, this company decided to pave its own path, create beautiful bouquets, and build a rabid audience base. And over 13 years and $60 million later, it is one of the hottest flower companies in the business.

Discover the secret to this brand’s success and how it created waves in the flower delivery industry.

Plus, find out how to get a FREE copy of our million dollar brand playbook.

What is Farmgirl Flowers?

It is a female-founded e-commerce flower company.

And they aren’t your average, run-of-the-mill, outsourcing flower shop. Instead, the predominantly women-run company creates one-of-a-kind arrangements that are as unique as the recipient.

Who founded Farmgirl Flowers?

Christina Stembel is the Founder and CEO of Farmgirl Flowers, Inc. She launched the company in 2010.

What is the origin story of Farmgirl Flowers?

Growing up on a farm subjected Christina Stembel to sexism in the agriculture sector. Men attended the fields, and girls liked fresh flowers. And as with many women in rural communities, Stembel didn’t attend college.

But Stembel didn’t want to follow the status quo. She yearned to start a large-scale, sustainable company and set her eyes on floral arrangements and bouquets.

She aimed to disrupt the flower delivery industry. Stembel experienced disappointment in the status quo firsthand when she tried to order flowers for her mother. Websites were tricky to navigate, and she received lackluster flowers.

Stembel started Farmgirl Flowers in San Francisco. But she didn’t have a fancy storefront. In fact, she only had $49,000 to her name. Instead, she arranged Farmgirl Flowers in an SF apartment—at least until her landlord caught wind.

After a year-and-a-half, she only had $411 in the bank. But instead of giving up, Stembel worked harder. She rented the tiniest, cheapest space at a nearby flower market.

With a marketing budget of zero, Stembel became the bootstrapping poster child. She wrapped her CA flowers in burlap sacks from local coffee shops, displaying her creations in the same cafes. Her plan worked. Word-of-mouth got the company off the ground. Orders started pouring in, and they never stopped.

By 2021, the brand had bloomed into a $60 million floral empire. The company now ships up to 8,000 bouquets across the United States every week.

How was this startup funded?

Christina Stembel accepted $0 (ZERO) in venture capital!

Was Farmgirl Flowers on Shark Tank? No, but the company did appear on a similar show called The Profit. An investor offered her $1 million for 25% of the business. Stembel walked away from the deal.

To date, Stembel has turned down all funding opportunities because she believes more are sexist. She said, “I think there’s a lot of implicit bias. People trust people that look like them, which is why all the -isms exist.”

What is Farmgirl Flowers worth?

It has a valuation of $60 million. (Stembel hopes to reach $100 million in the near future!)

What lesson can entrepreneurs learn from Farmgirl Flowers?

Prepare yourself to do hard things!

Growing a multimillion-dollar flower company wasn’t easy. The odds were stacked against Christina Stembel: She was female, had very little money, and didn’t have a degree.

“What I’ve had to realize is you’re going to have to do really hard things. You’re going to have to fire people. You’ll have to layer team members up even though you both feel terrible during the process. But these things are necessary,” she says.

Stembel could have given up at any point. But instead, she planted the seeds, watered them, and watched her vision grow into a highly successful e-commerce business.

What are the benefits of using Farmgirl Flowers?

Discover how this unique business model is shaking up the floral gifting industry:

Affordable Flowers Without Sacrificing Quality

Stembel knows that flowers are a luxury purchase. But she also believes everyone should be able to afford them. Farmgirl Flowers partners with local farms in the US and Ecuador, helping the environment and reducing costs simultaneously.

Wide Selection of Flowers and Arrangements

Whether shopping for flowers, plants, wreaths, or floral centerpieces, Farmgirl has you covered.

Coast-to-Coast Flower Delivery

You can order flowers for delivery from San Francisco to NYC! They ship fresh flowers to the lower 48 states. The company has distribution centers and shipping partners across the United States.

Flowers That Stay Fresh 

They pick, arrange, and ship flowers from the farm while they are fresh, colorful, and fragrant. 

One-of-a-Kind Curated Arrangements

The Farmgirl Flowers mantra is simple: “You order. We pick. They’re happy!” Each arrangement is hand-crafted from in-season flowers, and no two bouquets ever look the same. Stembel strives to create and deliver the flowers she would want to receive herself.

Eco-Friendly Products

During her research, Stembel learned that over half of US flower growers have gone out of business. That’s why Farmgirl Flowers follows a sustainable business model. Utilizing local farmers, ditching customizations, and wrapping in eco-friendly materials reduces waste and lowers the company’s carbon footprint.

Convenience of Ordering Flowers Online

An easy-to-navigate website streamlines the shopping process. Simply browse available products, add the desired arrangement to your cart, choose a delivery date, and checkout.

Expert Advice Available

Farmgirl Flowers educates customers on how to care for their flowers, plants, and wreaths. The company’s experts also offer advice on how to preserve bouquets to last a lifetime.

Flowers That Emit a True Scent

Picking only the freshest flowers ensures each arrangement emits an enticing floral aroma.

Ability to Support Local Farmers

Local sourcing is essential to Christina Stembel. That’s why the company partners with flower growers across the US. As she said in a Forbes interview, “Growing up in the agricultural industry, it was important to me to support local agriculture.”

Farmgirl FAQs

Looking for farm flowers near me? Learn why Farmgirl is the freshest place to order:

What is Farmgirl Flowers?

Farmgirl Flowers—sometimes mistakenly called Farmergirl Flowers—is an e-commerce flower company dedicated to delivering the finest floral arrangements with the smallest carbon footprint possible.

How does Farmgirl Flowers compare to other flower delivery services?

Farmgirl’s business model is unlike any other floral gifting service. Instead of outsourcing orders to other florists, Farmgirl Flowers tackles all fulfillment and curates each bouquet by hand. This practice ensures every arrangement exceeds the customer’s expectations.

How long do Farmgirl Flowers last?

Most Farmgirl Flower gifts can stay fresh for up to two weeks with proper home care. (Want something that lasts longer? Check out their impressive selection of FAUX flower arrangements!)

How can customers save money when ordering from Farmgirl Flowers?

The Farmgirl Flowers website makes it easy for customers to filter flower arrangements by price. You can also shop the “Free Ship Shop” to save on shipping rates. Or check out the “Deal of the Week” flowers for an unbeatable price.

How has the pandemic impacted Farmgirl Flowers?

Like many non-essential business owners, stay-at-home orders forced Farmgirl Flowers to shut down its San Francisco facility in May 2020. Stembel closed the company’s San Francisco facility in response. “I only gave us like a 10% chance of making it after Covid,” she told an interviewer.

But to Stembel’s surprise, the company doubled its revenues by the end of 2020. “In spite of Covid and because of Covid, we’ve been able to get here, which is just amazing to me,” she said.

What type of packaging does Farmgirl Flowers use?

Striving for sustainability, Farmgirl Flowers wraps arrangements in its signature burlap packaging.

Does Farmgirl Flowers offer delivery services to other countries?

Not yet! Shipping fresh flowers is an art, and Christina Stembel refuses to sacrifice quality to expand Farmgirl Flowers’ delivery services. But she does hope to ship to Canada one day!

Takeaway

After being disappointed by online flower companies, Christina Stembel decided to do it better. She bootstrapped Farmgirl Flowers with just the money in her bank account. Money was tight, and profits were slim. But she used her self-taught business savvy to grow her e-commerce site to $60 million.

Want to experience the Farmgirl Flowers difference for yourself? The company ships its curated arrangements across the contiguous United States.

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