On The Road With Petal Pop Flower Truck
We recently had the opportunity to catch up with the lovely Ange, owner of Petal Pop Flower Truck, who opened a unique style of flower shop. Here is what she had to say about the ups and downs of starting a travelling flower shop.
My name is Ange and I’m the “face behind the flowers” for Petal Pop Flower Truck. I’m a passionate florist with one dream: to bring beautiful blooms to the people. I’ve always thought outside the box, so what better way to do this than a mobile florist shop on wheels where we come to you?
After working in the corporate world in a previous life, I dedicated myself towards a career change into Floristry in 2012. After completing my floristry degree, I never looked back. As a budding florist, I gained much-needed experience working with and for other florists where I learned so much. After starting a young family some years later, it was only natural that I decided to take the plunge into self-employment. This has allowed me the flexibility and creativity that I craved. And so, Petal Pop was born.
The first step of the journey was to find the perfect van. After many months looking, we came across a 1960s CA Bedford van that had spent it’s former life being a delivery van for the Geelong Brewery. We went to have a look and it was pretty much love at first sight; her shape, lines and character was ready to shine behind all that rust.
After a bumpy and noisy ride getting her back to Melbourne, she decided to break down just around the corner of our house! So off to a specialised mechanic she went, where she is still currently being worked on to look her best and suit my needs as a flower truck. And so ‘Poppy’, as she is now called, is to be the future face of Petal Pop!
As we knew Poppy was going to be in the mechanics for sometime, I needed a Plan B to get this dream business up and running. So during 2018, in a matter of weeks, I had a small trailer custom-built and I started applying for local markets around the area. To my surprise, I got accepted! And it all went from there.
Some of the early trials and tribulations arose with learning to hitch the trailer correctly to our family car, and driving and parking the trailer itself. Bit different to a car, coming from someone who had only just got her licence at a ripe old age! But with lots of help and advice from my husband, sister and other market vendors, set-up became a breeze.
People are taken aback at first when they see Petal Pop on the road or at markets, and they often approach us in the hopes that we’ll have coffee or food on offer… Thankfully they are usually surprised and supportive and may walk away with some blooms instead.
Being the first of it’s kind in my area, it was a long process working out with the local council how to go about getting a permit so that I could sell from the streets. The closest thing to this is a food truck, which have their own set of procedures in place. I’m still working out which locations work better than others to set up.
“I have been absolutely blown away by the variety of responses that Petal Pop has received.”
From confusion, to sheer joy. The two main comments I receive on the road are “Oh My God, this is SO CUTE!” and “Are they real?” I’ve been surprised by the amount of people who are adamant that I am selling artificial flowers. While it is still early days, I have been extremely humbled by the generous comments the public have to offer. Their positivity and support is wonderful and I LOVE seeing people’s reactions to the flowers – it brings a smile to my face.
I love running flower workshops and sharing my knowledge of fresh cut flower care and basic arranging to fellow flower-lovers. Participants often pre-warn me that they are “hopeless with flowers”, but I beg to differ – anyone can give it a crack! And if you’re having fun doing it, then it’s a no-lose situation.
The future of Petal Pop Flower Truck is an exciting one, and I can’t wait to have my old girl ‘Poppy’ on the road. I’m sure that may bring about more challenges and adventures, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
For more of Ange’s adventures, visit
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