Flower shop comes to Russell
Mar. 3—RUSSELL — An Ashland native is jumping into ownership of a business at 19 years old.
Raegan Slone, a graduate of Ashland Blazer and owner of West End Floral & Gifts, said since she was a little girl, she has had a "deep love" for flowers — pushing her to open a flower shop of her own on Ferry Street in Russell.
"To me, flowers just make everything so much better and brightens my day," Slone said. "This joy has guided me to encourage others to pursue work they love. For me, owning a flower shop hardly feels like work at all, because it is my passion.
"It has been a great experience; it's just a lot of hard work. Everyone has been super supportive."
Over the years, Slone has watched her mother, who is a business owner herself, and said she was the driving force of inspiration to open her own place.
"I have always looked up to my mom; I want to be like her," Slone said.
The flower shop had a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Northeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Friday, bringing a gathering of cheerful people to 306 Ferry St. Inside the shop, pots of spring-like fresh flowers and giftware filled the shelves and tables.
Diamond Lewis, of the Russell Tourism Board was on hand for the ceremony.
"We needed a nice flower shop in Russell like this," Lewis said. "I myself have a weekly subscription where Raegan puts together a small bouquet of wildflowers; beautiful and something different every week.
"It's not just a beautiful flower shop, they have some unique gifts," he said.
Slone said it wasn't easy getting to where she is now and thanked everyone for being supportive.
Slone will be attending flower school in April, she said.
