Sabrina Torres has been delivering handcrafted flower bouquets in the Greater Houston area for more than a decade.
Torres began her career in the floral industry in 2003 after taking a class at North Harris Community College—now the Lone Star College System. While working as a special education teacher in Houston ISD, Torres began building her home-based business by working weddings every weekend.
After retiring from teaching in 2010, Torres decided to focus solely on her business. In May 2013, she celebrated the grand opening of her first retail flower shop in Spring, Always Floral.
“I think it helped being in the wedding industry beforehand because you have to deal with a lot of particular people, and your work is always under a microscope,” Torres said. “So coming into retail, I look at my work the same way. My customers look at the product just like a bride, so I need to make sure it’s as perfect as it can be before it goes out
that door.”
Looking to accommodate customers coming from The Woodlands, Torres opened a second location on Oak Ridge Drive in 2014 for consultations.
“There are a lot of brides in The Woodlands area so we set up a shop there to meet with brides for their convenience,” Torres said. “I have been thinking about expanding our Woodlands location to become a retail shop in the future. We get a lot of repeat customers from that area because they love our product, so it would be great to have another retail location there eventually.”
In addition to The Woodlands and Spring, Always Floral also delivers arrangements to the Cypress, Tomball and Willowbrook areas. Staying true to its family business ties, Torres’ father serves as the delivery driver, and her mother and sister work alongside her at the shop.
“You’ve got to support small businesses—that’s how we survive,” Torres said. “We can’t compete with the prices of big chains, but we offer a better product. Going to a florist that loves what they do and is putting together a bouquet by hand with care makes a huge difference.”
Aside from weddings, Torres also provides floral arrangements for corporate events, funerals, anniversary celebrations, and baby and bridal showers.
“Customer service is my No. 1 priority,” she said. “We offer something for everybody’s budget, and if the order is placed before 2:30 p.m., we can definitely deliver it the same day. I really don’t like to turn away business so even if it’s later in the day, sometimes I can still get the orders out that same day. We will stay here as late as that last delivery goes out, and we really work to communicate with our customers—that sets us apart.”
Always Floral has been awarded the Best of Weddings Florist designation by “The Knot” for the past five consecutive years, landing the business a spot in The Knot hall of fame. In addition, the shop was also voted as the “Couple’s Choice Florist” by the website Wedding Wire in 2015.
Torres said she primarily buys her flowers from local wholesalers and takes pride in never using what she considers cheap fillers, such as baby’s breath or leather leaves. She also uses only high-quality ribbon and burlap on arrangements for her personal finishing touch.
“You have to love your product and have passion when you’re making it,” Torres said. “You want to send something out that you would want to receive.”
In addition to flower arrangements, the shop offers soy candles, fruit baskets, candy baskets, balloon bouquets and stuffed animals. Clients can place orders by phone, online or in person. Unlike many floral businesses, the shop does not work with an external service for additional flower orders.
“Our business has been growing tremendously each year we’ve been here,” Torres said. “If you put out a good product, you don’t need the [external service]. That’s how you build repeat business—by just putting out a good product.”
