Blooming business

By JACKIE RIPLEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 14, 2001

WESTCHASE -- Marlene Etzler has a lot in common with the exotic flowers she sells from the back of her renovated U.S. Mail truck. They both grew up in the wilds of the South American rain forest and they've both found their way to Westchase.

[Times photo: Mike Pease] Marlene Etzler loads her converted postal truck with fresh flowers for delivery around Tampa. She started her business, Heliconias Are Us, four years ago.

"You can take the girl out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the girl," said Etzler, now a Westchase mother of two who has created a thriving business based on her first love, exotic flowers.

Etzler was 18 when she moved here from South America but she's never forgotten the natural beauty of her first home, or the exotic flowers that grow wild there.

"I grew up around all these beautiful wild flowers and now I have them in my life again," said Etzler, gathering Heliconia, Ginger, Birds of Paradise, Anthurium and Maraca into an exotic bouquet. "Every week I try to do something different in the bouquets."

Etzler, who along with partner Scott Sedelbauer owns Heliconias Are Us, is a well-recognized sight along the manicured avenues of Westchase. There she delivers exotic flower bouquets from the back of a renovated mail truck decorated with the company logo and paintings of exotic flowers.

Purchase of the circa 1975 mail truck, she said, put the finishing touch to her business because "I always had a dream of putting flowers in a little Jeep."

Etzler, who convinced the Jeep's former owner to sell it to her, painted the truck and put an air-conditioner unit on top. And she said because tropical flowers don't require refrigeration "all Scott had to do was cut holes in the back to set the flowers in and off I go."

Etzler said most of her clients live in Westchase although her client list now encompasses businesses as well, including Carrabbas Italian Grill, three south Tampa restaurants and the recently opened Don Vincente de Ybor.

The flowers are flown in twice a week from Costa Rica, Hawaii, Colombia and Ecuador and picked up at the airport by Etzler around noon. The next stop is her living room, where she gathers them into bouquets before loading them into the back of her truck for delivery. Then it's hone again by 2:45 p.m. to pick up daughter Olivia from school.

Etzler said the only hitch is when the plane is late or when agricultural agents send the flowers back to the grower after finding a pest in the cargo. Fortunately, her delivery has only been sent back twice since she started the business three years ago.

"The growers are very careful because it costs them money, but I'm without flowers," said Etzler, who came up with the idea for the business while commuting from Westchase to Orlando where she sold time share packages. She said one of the unit owners who also owns a Heliconias farm in Cali, Colombia, told her she needed to see her flowers. Impressed, Etzler began shipping small orders of flowers from Heliconias Del Valle for the resort's welcome center.

The venture grew into a twice-a-week stint on the corner of Countryway Boulevard and Waters Avenue. She and Sedelbauer set out an umbrella cart and "people were pulling in and buying flowers like crazy."

Six months ago the pair bought the mail truck and Etzler turned her avocation into a full-time job.

The bouquets sell for $15, or $20 if a vase is needed. There's a $5 delivery charge if a customer is not on her delivery route, or if the customer wants her to come in and arrange the flowers.

Because the flowers are fresh from the farm, Etzler said they last 7 to 14 days. She suggests changing the water every four days and adding about a capful of bleach to make them last longer.

"I have a dream of having a drive-thru," said Etzler, who doesn't like the idea of being tied down to a traditional shop where she would spend the day arranging flowers. "Selling bouquets is such a free thing."

During the holidays Etzler created her bouquets from red Anthurium, red Ginger and red Heliconias. Now she's getting ready for Gasparilla and Valentine's Day.

So what's on the agenda for the day of love?

"Anthuriums, the flower of love," Etzler said. "I'll do pink and red. Sort of Victoria Secret's hot burning love."

- Jackie Ripley can be reached at (813) 226-3468 or ripley@sptimes.com.

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