Seasons Floral & Gifts celebrated its second anniversary at the start of 2018, but co-owner and designer Debra Hobbs has a long history in Georgetown’s floral business.

Once a fixture on the city’s downtown Square for flower and gift seekers, Hobbs left the industry for about a decade to manage personal setbacks, including the deaths of both of her parents, who lived near Waco, she said.

Hobbs opened Seasons Floral & Gifts in January 2016 with business partners Mary and Mat Canava, who also own Whitestone Tire Center next door to the floral shop’s location just south of downtown Georgetown. Hobbs said the new shop is in many ways the culmination of a difficult personal and professional journey as well as a symbol of her new beginning.

“It’s a smaller, more intimate setting, but I love it,” Hobbs said of her shop. “People who have known us say it’s the best thing we’ve done yet.”

The full-service floral shop offers service for weddings, rehearsal dinners, parties and funerals. The shop also sells gift items and antiques as well as a variety of handmade artisan crafts from private vendors, including Beverly Contreras of Round Rock, Maryanne Gordy of Thorndale, Linda Kelly of Liberty Hill, Amanda Tyrell of Cedar Park and Judy Wade of Georgetown.

Vendors work occasionally in the store and help pitch in on the floral and decor side during busy times of the year such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, Hobbs said.

“I’ve always had vendors [in my shop],” Hobbs said. “It just adds more of a handmade artisan touch.”

Florists often meet their customers during both the happiest and saddest moments of life, a fact that lends to their profession a particular need for compassion and a patient ear, Hobbs said. She is always more than happy to oblige customers who need flowers but also someone to listen to their stories.

“We really try to be caring people, because ours is a business of feelings,” Hobbs said.