New West Side Market vendor Greenleaf Floral Co. plans to sell locally grown flowers year-round 

Part of Greenleaf Floral Co.’s mission is to celebrate the beauty that comes with each season. 

“Each one is so different. I think that’s the beauty in all of them,” florist Catherine Conway said. 

Greenleaf Floral Co. opened a flower stand at the West Side Market on Sept. 1 and plans to sell flowers year-round, embracing the four seasons and focusing on sourcing flowers from local growers.

The West Side Market is looking to add more vendors as it prepares to transition from city management to nonprofit management and makes plans for upgrades. Greenleaf is the newest vendor to join the market’s produce Arcade, which is currently half empty. Located in the market’s produce Arcade at stand #23, Greenleaf is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Each season will bring different types of flowers to Greenleaf’s flower stand. Recent offerings included dahlias, zinnias, marigolds, and strawflowers. In the late fall and winter, Conway, the owner of Greenleaf, plans to sell locally grown dried flowers and Christmas greens, as well as some cut flowers from a national wholesaler. The cold weather may present a challenge to maintaining ideal temperatures for the flowers, Conway said, but Greenleaf is figuring out the details along the way.

Greenleaf offers ready-made bouquets and price-per-stem flowers, with prices varying based on type of flower. Dahlias typically cost $8 per stem, while zinnias cost about $3 per stem, Conway said. She plans to add arrangements in vases and monthly flower subscriptions to the mix soon. Customers can also order custom bouquets online for pickup at the market, and the order form allows customers to input their preferences and a reference photo.

Opening at the West Side Market

Conway, 27, worked at Urban Orchid after graduating from John Carroll University with a minor in entrepreneurship. She took customers’ orders, learned about designing bouquets, and processed flowers, which means removing thorns and leaves. 

At that time, she didn’t know exactly what career path she wanted to pursue. Her dad, Daniel Conway, owns Great Lakes Brewing Company with his brother Patrick Conway and “had an inkling” that she would become an entrepreneur, she said.

Surrounded by flowers working for Urban Orchid during the pandemic, Conway saw the therapeutic effect that flowers can have and ended up working at the floral boutique longer than she initially planned. She also learned about how the flower industry works. 

Most cut flowers in the U.S. come from other countries. An analysis by Agricultural Economic Insights found that about 77% of cut flowers were imported in 2019. The travel and preservatives associated with shipping flowers long distances takes a toll on the environment, Conway said. 

Locally grown flowers are a “more sustainable option,” she said, but local flower farmers often have limited time and resources to market their flowers. Conway wants to help them reach more customers. 

“I just had noticed a gap in the local flower market industry for local flower farmers,” she said. “My hope is just to bring in as many local flower farmers (as possible) and create this community to help them grow and then just raise awareness of the positive impact that that has.” 

Over the summer, Conway filed for an LLC, got her vendor’s license, and applied to rent a space at the West Side Market. She named her flower company after Greenleaf Circle, the name of the street where she grew up in Westlake. 

A speaker series that the West Side Market held in the spring and summer motivated Conway to open a stand at the market. The events highlighted that there were a lot of vacancies at the market and that the market was interested in adding more women-owned businesses, she said. 

The market’s phase II master plan report published in July 2023 listed the Market Hall’s vacancy rate as 22% and the Arcade’s vacancy rate as 50%. Since then, the Arcade’s vacancy rate has remained around 50%, but the Market Hall’s exact vacancy rate is difficult to determine right now because some stands have to temporarily move into “swing stands” due to construction, said Jessica Trivisonno, senior strategist for the West Side Market. In April, the market had about 70 businesses, two dozen of which were women-owned businesses, Trivisonno said at one of the events in the speaker series.

Four new vendors have opened at the market since Trivisonno began her role with the market in January 2022: The Home Pantry, Jack Frost Donuts, White Flower Cake Shoppe, and now, Greenleaf.

Conway’s dad has also worked with market vendors before and encouraged her to open at the market. 

In anticipation of the market’s switch to nonprofit management, all vendors now have month-to-month leases for their stalls at the market, rather than the year-long fixed-term leases they had in the past, Trivisonno said. Conway said she pays about $780 a month to rent the space and plans to stay at the market as long as she can.

On Greenleaf’s first day at the market, one family left with buckets of flowers from the stand. A bride’s wedding flowers weren’t shipped in time, leaving them in need of flowers on short notice. They ended up buying over $400 worth of flowers, Conway said. 

After buying flowers the morning of Sept. 15, a customer told Conway that they hope Greenleaf stays at the market. Conway said she frequently hears from customers who say they’ve been wanting a flower vendor at the market. 

K&K Bakery held a flower pop-up at the market earlier in the summer, but the market has not had a vendor dedicated to selling flowers in several years, Trivisonno said.

On a typical day at the market, Conway gets the flowers from the cooler in the basement, prepares the stand, cuts the flowers, and then starts making bouquets. She works with one other team member, Tessa Holmes, who picks up flowers, helps with bouquets, and serves customers. 

Supporting local flower farmers 

Columbus-based Sunny Meadows Flower Farm delivers flowers to the market on Thursdays, and Conway picks up flowers from flower farms in Northeast Ohio, such as Mrs. D’s Dahlias in Hudson, Shady Acres Farm in Columbia Station, and Frayed Knot Farm in Geauga County. 

The flowers she picks up from Frayed Knot Farm in Geauga County come from various farms across Northeast Ohio thanks to a partnership called the Northeast Ohio Cut Flower Collaborative. Also known as The Collab, the partnership connects local flower farmers to florists like Conway.

Florists use an online form to purchase products from the growers that are part of the collective. They can also choose from a selection of the growers’ surplus flowers when they pick up their orders, said Emily Pek, who coordinates drop-off and pickup logistics for The Cut Flower Collab and hosts the pickups at her farm, Frayed Knot Farm.

The number of growers involved in The Collab has doubled since this year, Pek said. About 20 growers have been involved this year, and 12 to 15 flower farmers consistently dropped off flowers. The Collab has had 10 regular florists buy flowers week to week and 30 or so throughout the year.

The Collab offers about 100 varieties over the course of the growing season, including tulips and spring perennials April through June, zinnias and celosia in the summer, and dahlias and lisianthus in the fall.

“We hope that by combining efforts and having multiple growers combine their product, that it gives the grower an opportunity to have a sales outlet and a market. And for florists, it’s hopefully minimizing the amount of farmers that they have to travel to get local product,” Pek said. 

The Collab wants to “get as many local flowers into people’s hands as possible,” Pek said. In addition to their environmental benefits, local flower farmers offer more variety, including delicate stems that can’t travel long distances, Conway said. The Collab also helps build relationships between growers and florists, Pek said.

Pek met Conway through a mutual friend at Frayed Knot Farm. She said she’s excited to support Greenleaf because its mission of growing the local flower industry is similar to The Collab’s mission. Pek said she doesn’t know of any other florists who have a physical storefront dedicated to local flowers. 

“There isn’t really anything like it, like what Catherine’s doing, and it’s just awesome to have such a champion of local flowers,” Pek said.

Pek is particularly excited to have local flowers at the West Side Market. “It’s got a very, very special place in my heart,” she said.

Her grandparents immigrated to Cleveland from Hungary and would go to the market to buy food that reminded them of home, she said. Her grandparents and her aunt and uncle both got married at Saint Emeric Church, a Hungarian church near the market. Pek also sold local produce at the market for a time. 

“I think it’s just a gem of the city, and I think that a lot of other people have similar stories, that they have such nostalgic memories,” Pek said. “So I’m excited to see some rebirth into the West Side Market, and it’s exciting again to have someone like Catherine be a part of that.” 

UPDATES, CORRECTIONS: This article was updated to include information about the West Side Market’s vacancy rates, its switch from fixed-term leases to month-to-month leases for vendors, its upcoming transition to nonprofit management, and previous vendors that have sold flowers at the market. The article was also updated to include the name of Conway’s father and her minor at John Carroll University. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Sunny Meadows Farm delivers flowers to Greenleaf Flower Co. each morning. The farm delivers flowers to the stand at the market on Thursdays. The article also previously stated that the Arcade does not have heat. The Arcade is not “well heated,” according to the market’s phase 2 master plan.

Learn more about Greenleaf Floral Co. on its Instagram page and website. Contact Catherine Conway at greenleaffloralco@gmail.com. The flower stand is located in the Arcade hall in the West Side Market, stand #23. It’s open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Read this application packet or call 216-664-3387 for more information on becoming a vendor at the West Side Market. 

Read The Land’s previous coverage of the West Side Market here.