Chavez rebranded a local flower shop into LC Floral Designs[/caption]

When LC Floral Designs owner Lucas Chavez was a boy, he and his friends would visit the local flower shop, located at 204 E. Hwy. 90A, as a way to spend summer afternoons.

“As a kid, I lived five minutes away from the flower shop,” Chavez said. “As little wandering kids in the summer, we would want to find ways to kill time and we would walk into the flower shop.”

Chavez has taken that childhood love—and that same shop—and turned it into his dream business.

During his college years, Chavez said he returned to his hometown of Richmond for a summer break and stopped in to ask for a job at the same shop. Four months later, he said he was in charge of the entire store.

“I came in cleaning, sweeping the floors and delivering flowers,” Chavez said. “I was hired full time three-to-four months later ... that was 23 years ago.”

In the early 2000s, after spending time as an interior designer, Chavez said his clients encouraged him to get back into the flower industry.

“It was something very scary,” Chavez said. “Sure, I worked for one of the premier decorators in Houston, but I was never in charge of it, until the customers put me in charge. They gave me confidence and pushed me.”

For several years, he divided his time running the shop in Richmond and another in the Galleria area. In 2004, Hurricane Rita damaged the Galleria location, prompting Chavez to consolidate the two stores.

“I decided to just come to Richmond,” Chavez said. “That’s where I want to go, and that’s where I want to grow.” 

Since 2004, Chavez has been growing LC Floral Designs into the go-to spot for local weddings, proms and a variety of events in Richmond.

Seasonal flowers and vases are available.[/caption]

“It’s been a blessing in every sense of the word,” Chavez said. “The community has embraced us. We’re not traditional florists. We came from the Galleria, so we were able to provide high-end as well as ordinary options.”

While the store caters to every type of event, Chavez said there was one category that stood out: weddings.

Over time, Chavez said he developed an eye for delivering a dream wedding to a bride, but he learned there is someone else who needs to approve. 

“I pride myself in being good at what I do,” Chavez said. “You’re not only doing a wedding for the bride but also for the mother. That is my task: to give them the ideal wedding that both of them envision.”