Betty J's Florist: Selling love, sympathies and apologies for 50 years

It’s the week of Valentine’s Day, and the phone is ringing nonstop, customers are passing one another coming in or going out, the online orders constantly are updating.

This is a familiar routine every February for flower shop owner Rilla Tomyn and her employees, which includes her sister, Libby Tomyn, and Meribeth Jackson.

“There’s Christmas, which lasts a month; there’s Mother’s Day, which lasts about a week but it’s intense; but it’s Valentine’s Day that takes the cake,” Rilla Tomyn said. “It’s the one that’s fast and furious.”

Rilla Tomyn owns Betty J’s Florist, a community staple in downtown Ocoee for 50 years — always with the same name, same address and same phone number.

There are local residents who have been buying Betty J’s flowers since the shop opened in the corner storefront at Bluford Avenue and McKey Street.

“There are a lot of people who wouldn’t go anywhere else,” Rilla Tomyn said. “They know they’re going to get the best possible product. They’re going to get tissue paper and a box.”

Jackson added, “And nine times out of 10, we know their name.”

“We’ve been through it all with some of these people — the births, the deaths, the weddings, the funerals,” Libby Tomyn said.

THE REAL BETTY J

Rilla Tomyn and her aunt, Elizabeth Longcoy, bought the flower business in 2003 from Betty Jean Brimer, the original owner, when she retired.

Brimer was a seamstress before becoming a florist, and Rilla Tomyn remembers Brimer making clothes for her as a child in the pattern and clothing store in the same storefront.

When Longcoy died in 2004, Rilla Tomyn was left to continue the floral legacy.

“I worked beside Betty Brimer for about a month to learn whatever I could learn in a month,” she said. “I didn’t know a tulip from a rose … when I took over. I went out and hired a designer. We had no flowers. We had two major people die that weekend, and the funerals were going to be that Sunday. We literally took 65 orders to be ready on Sunday.”

SERVING THE COMMUNITY

Rilla Tomyn estimates at least 750 bouquets will be arranged and delivered this week.

“Every possible countertop is filled with flowers,” Jackson said.

Customers line up at the gift shop at Health Central – Orlando Health, in Ocoee, too. Libby Tomyn has operated that shop for 10 years and has been looking for the right space to open another one.

Rilla Tomyn always is looking for the highest-quality product. She said the best roses come from Ecuador and she won’t use roses from anywhere else. A great deal of her flowers come from California, Michigan and Canada.

“We get flowers every day; we have a great turnout of flowers,” she said. “We’re constantly getting that fresh product and moving it out. … People love different. They want to come in and see something different.”

This is an ever-changing industry, Libby Tomyn said, and they are quick to change with it.

“Flowers are always evolving the way they are grown, … the way they’re bred, the way they’re cut, where they come from,” she said.

Rilla Tomyn said global warming has altered blooming patterns — amaryllis once bloomed at Christmastime, but they now bloom later. Christmas cacti aren’t blooming when they are supposed to, either.

Availability depends, too, on what’s going on in the rest of the world. Wildfires and flooding affect growing, shipping and, ultimately, deliveries.

HARD ON BUSINESS

Betty J’s has had its share of ups and downs through the decades, and that includes a downtown Ocoee project that had Bluford Avenue closed for about a year. They battled mountains of dirt outside their front door, had access to their store blocked and tried to run a business at an intersection that was completely torn up for three months.

“I thought it would never be over, and there was no way to get through it except to be positive,” Rilla Tomyn said. “It was a deep, dark time. There was definitely fewer customers and fewer sales. … It wasn’t just us. It hurt everybody.”

“You had to try to be excited about what’s on the other end of it, and Ocoee, hopefully, will be a place where there will be a lot of foot traffic,” Libby Tomyn added.

Without a drive-by presence, Betty J’s turned to Facebook to give construction updates and remind folks they were still open. When Bluford reopened, one man walked into the store and ordered flowers at the counter — simply because he could.

OUTSIDE THE BOX

Rilla Tomyn wants people to think of Betty J’s as more than a place to order flowers.

She introduced a Wine and Design social time last fall, and groups can get together to design centerpieces as they sip beverages and snack on light bites. Two-hour blocks can be arranged by calling the shop and reserving the space.

“It starts at about $50, but they’re going to be taking out of here a fresh flower arrangement that’s worth more than that,” Libby Tomyn said.

“And it’s just fun,” Jackson added.

There are plans for a year-round Christmas shop in one room of the business. It will have a section devoted entirely to the holiday, plus another seasonal area that will sell home decor and garden items.

Betty J’s also operates a part-time gift shop at Sonata West, in Winter Garden, selling clothing, jewelry, greeting cards, personal care items and more.

Rilla Tomyn wants to assure her customers that no matter what other projects Betty J’s takes on, the floral shop isn’t going anywhere. She intends to remain right where she is in downtown Ocoee.

“We have no plans to leave Ocoee,” she said. “This is our home. This is where we belong.”