In 1972, when Collier was 2 years old, her father, Jim Kerr, bought Allen Flower Shop for her mother, Carolyn Kerr. The Allen couple relocated the business within Allen to the current location in 1973. Collier officially became co-owner of the business with her father in 2025 but has been running the business for the past 15 years, she said.
The setup
Customers can stop by the shop to purchase fresh, premade flower arrangements from the cooler, select individual stems, or order custom or predesigned arrangements either in person or online. Some customers choose a flower subscription, which provides regular deliveries on a preset schedule.
“He does it every six weeks and has been doing it for six or seven years. We change his [arrangement] up with different colors or different vases. He treats my drivers, including me, like we're friends,“ Collier said of an Allen resident whose subscription always includes carnations for his wife. “She loves everything that we do. They're very complimentary—the perfect customer for sure.”
The details
Collier said she orders flowers from Dallas flower wholesalers who source them from a variety of places including Ecuador, Canada and the United States.
Top-selling flowers at Allen Flower Shop are roses, stargazer lilies and hydrangeas.
Florists at Allen Flower Shop create a variety of flower arrangements ranging from traditional to contemporary styles. Customers can choose to duplicate a pre-designed arrangement or give the florist design parameters and let them create a custom arrangement.
“We like people to give us creative license to create, because I feel like you get a little bit more value than copying what I call a ‘paint-by-numbers' arrangement,” Collier said.
The impact
The busiest seasons at Allen Flower Shop are Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas. The top three reasons people buy flowers are birthdays, anniversaries and sympathy.
Collier said she feels honored when customers order flowers for a funeral from her and finds comfort in her religious beliefs.
“It's an honor to honor their loved one with flowers,” Collier said. “When somebody is grieving ... at a funeral, I like to think of all the beautiful flowers at a service and think about their beautiful life. I'm a believer and I like to think about the beautiful life that they're experiencing in heaven and the beauty that they're seeing right now.”
The background
Collier said when her father bought Allen Flower Shop for her mother as a birthday present, it was meant to give her a hobby.
“My dad always jokes and says, ‘Men, buy your wife flowers, not a whole flower shop,’” Collier said.
The Kerr family home, which is where Jim Kerr has lived since 1968, is located a short bike ride from the shop.
Whether looking at the walk-in cooler her father and two brothers built, or glancing at the floor near the sink in the workroom, many of Collier’s family memories stem from the more than half-a-century-old family business.
“When mom was the only place in town to get homecoming mums— they were very different: it was like five ribbons and a real mum. My grandmother used to sit on the floor and melt candle wax on the back of the fresh flower,” Collier said. “There were times when mom would be out the side door, people driving through, and she gave them their mums, because she was the only one in town—everybody had to come here.”
While growing up, Collier didn’t aspire to work at or own the family business. She pursued a career as a drill team instructor and later while raising her family, working at Allen Flower Shop afforded her the flexibility she wanted to be active in her children’s activities. As her children grew, she became more involved with the day-to-day operations of the business and has come to enjoy the career path.
“I like the creativity—no day is the same,” Collier said. “My parents have always been very connected in the community. My dad has a school named after him. I take a lot of pride in continuing the family business.”
- 102 E. Main St., Allen
- www.allenflowershop.com
