Curbside Chronicle Laying Down Roots for Flower Shop

For several years the Curbside Chronicle has sold flowers for various holidays. Now they're opening up a brick and mortar shop at Classen and 5th Street, set to open sometime this fall.

Sonya Shackelford will be one of the 15 charter employees for the Curbside Chronicle Flower Shop.

Sonya used to work as a nurses' aide in Shawnee, but when her late husband got sick, they poured all their money into his medical care.

"When my husband passed away, I had $35 to my name, lost my house, lost my car, lost everything I owned," she said.

Sonya was introduced to the Homeless Alliance two years ago. She proved herself to be an elite Chronicle saleswoman and was selected to work in the new shop.

"Pretty soon, we got calls to do birthdays and anniversaries and weddings and we couldn't do that with our set up at the Homeless Alliance," said Ranya Forgotson, Director of the Curbside Chronicle.

That idea blossomed into the current shop, created, appropriately, through a seed grant courtesy of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.

Each employee took a 100-hour course at OSU-OKC, receiving a certificate in retail floral design.

So, they've got the shop, the flowers, and the people. Now all they need to open, are the wheels.

"Having a delivery vehicle, is kind of an important tool we need," said Forgotson.

And one that they don't currently have. Several fundraisers were canceled in the pandemic, so a Go Fund Me was created. They're almost halfway to their goal of $35,000.