Rising Stars: Meet GeNell’s Flowers of Miami County

Today we’d like to introduce you to GeNell’s Flowers.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
GeNell’s Flowers has been expertly serving Piqua, Ohio, and its local communities since 1949. As a full-service florist, GeNell’s Flowers carries fresh flowers, plants, silk floral designs, and keepsake items for all occasions. Daily delivery areas include (but are not limited to) Piqua, Troy, Sidney, Tipp City, Covington, Fletcher, Bradford, Houston, and St. Paris. Additionally, GeNell’s provides exquisite flowers for weddings and events throughout the greater Miami Valley.

GeNell’s Flowers was founded in 1949 by GeNell Horner. In 1982, Mark Casto purchased the business from Ms. Horner. Shortly thereafter, Kim Hampshire joined the business. As Mark’s focus shifted more to his landscaping business, Kim’s focus remained on the flower shop. As owner, she continued to lead and manage the shop for nearly 40 years until she retired in 2021. You will see her often at the shop as she still enjoys working there part-time.

Mark and Kim’s daughter, Casey (Casto) Virgallito began working at the shop in 2014. Growing up in and around the flower shop instilled a passion for floral design and helping customers from a young age. After completing her education, she returned to the family business to pour her education and experience into the shop and became owner in 2021, taking the reins when Kim retired.

Mindi (Eernisse) Hixson, cousin to Casey, tells the story of how her Aunt Kim would encourage her to choose a flower from the walk-in cooler when she visited a shop as a little girl, and how these visits blossomed into a love for flowers. Mindi completed her education and worked in finance and human resources while living in various states, working intermittently at flower shops in her free time (including GeNell’s) to stay connected with her passion. In 2024, Mindi and Casey became equal partners in GeNell’s Flowers.

In 2024, GeNell’s Flowers celebrated its 75th year in business. Casey and Mindi and their talented staff are excited to carry on the amazing legacy of GeNell’s Flowers. Thrilled to continue providing beautiful, inspired designs and exceptional customer service, recognizing, and fulfilling the needs of customers and families of every generation.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The Covid-19 pandemic was especially difficult as we were forced to temporarily reduce our team in the shop, could not work together (so very much missed the team aspect of a flower shop as we varied shifts), and product was very limited. Out of the darkness came light, though, as people who were unable to see each other in person found comfort in sending each other flowers. Translating feelings and sentiment into flowers is what we do, so we were especially honored to do this at that time.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Casey and Mindi both have higher education degrees in fields that are not directly related to flowers. Casey’s background is economics, while Mindi’s background is communication. However, both have a passion for the art of floristry and for using flowers to communicate feelings on behalf of their customers. We love what we do. Our exceptional service, quality, and dependability are what we’re known for and we feel illustrates that love. Also, we create our own designs seasonally for release on our website and in our store. This is unique, as many florists primarily use Teleflora’s designs (or other corporations). To us, being a florist is more than simply selling flowers, it is having intimate knowledge of the quality and performance of the flowers that we use in our unique designs, providing exceptional service every time, and continually improving as we go along.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Sometimes taking risk is necessary to move forward. Whether it is experimenting with new flowers/new growers, investing in our own infrastructure, or introducing a new style of arrangement, we’re taking risks. But, we know that in order to continue to be successful, we have to try new things, keeping our business as productive as possible and providing fresh new offerings to our customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://genellsflowers.com
• Instagram: /genellsflowers
• Facebook: /genellsflowers