Couple have 'petal' power with Wildflower Truck

By Theresa Brown
Posted 6/5/18

By THERESA BROWN In addition to working day jobs at National Grid and in the marketing field, husband and wife Nicholas and Krystal Furney can often be found cruising the streets in their custom vintage flower shop on wheels. The Furneys of Warwick, own

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Couple have 'petal' power with Wildflower Truck

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In addition to working day jobs at National Grid and in the marketing field, husband and wife Nicholas and Krystal Furney can often be found cruising the streets in their custom vintage flower shop on wheels.

The Furneys of Warwick, own the year-old business which is flower store located in their pick-up truck, which consists mostly of locally grown flowers.

The couple came up with the idea while traveling in Europe. They were interested in the mobile flower shops they found there and decided to bring the concept home.

“Last spring we traveled to Paris and Amsterdam, and they have flower trucks everywhere. We really liked the idea,” Nicholas said.

With Nicholas having a background in landscaping design, and the couple playing such a big part in choosing the flowers that they had for their wedding, they knew working in this business would be right for them.

“When we started planning for our own wedding and started working with florists, we really started creating our own look for everything. We tend to like things that are more like wild flowers… We have a garden in our own back yard, too,” Krystal said.

They began planning for the business when they bought a 1968 Volkswagen Single Cab pick-up truck from Georgia.

“The truck was the biggest expense, and bringing the truck up to where it needs to be, to be running was a substantial amount,” Krystal said.

After shipping the cream-colored truck up to Rhode Island to be refurbished, building the crates and pots that would store the flowers, they began traveling around New England to different festivals and events to start selling in June of 2017.

“We got the truck in April of last year, and it took us a couple of months just to get the truck ready,” Krystal said. “So during that six to eight week period we kind of planned everything on the back end so as soon as the last piece on the truck was done, we were ready to go.”

Since taking to the road the shop has gotten a lot of business and attention on their social media accounts.

“We were really well received,” Krystal said.

The flowers can be bought by the stem, allowing customers to make their own custom bouquet. Once chosen, they are arranged and tied up with brown paper and twine while the customers are being rung out.

The selection of flowers varies as the Furneys work with many local growers to give customers the best options based on which flowers are in season. They have even started growing flowers themselves that are also sold from the truck.

The truck features different flowers for each event based on what is in season. Some flowers that can be seen on the truck include dahlias, menta roses, blue thistle, ranunculus, peonies, sunflowers, and many different kinds of eucalyptus.

The truck can be found at many different events and locations across Rhode Island. They are often at the Providence Flea on Sundays, and they will also be at Food Truck Fridays at Roger Williams Park on June 8.

Pictures of the flowers and announcements of the trucks location can be found on its Instagram @thewildflowertruck or its website www.wildflowertruck.com.

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