New florist opens doors in Red Oak

 Weddings, funerals, anniversaries, holidays...  many occasions call for a floral arrangement or a gift, and Molly Faye’s Floral and Gift Shop is ready and willing to provide just what you need.

“The shop is named after my grandmother Molly Faye Jones,” new owner Jenny Gettler explained. “My middle name is also Faye.

Gettler is an R.N. who previously worked as a hospice nurse. 

“I was ready for a career change where I could use my creativity and be a local business owner,” she said. “Nursing is so structured, and here I have more flexibility. My husband is glad to see me doing something that I thoroughly enjoy and that makes me happy.”

Caleb Gettler is a local contractor. The couple lives in Stanton with their three children, Evan, 8, Addie, 5 and Owen, 2.

“I had no previous experience in professional flower arranging,” admits Gettler, “but I have an excellent teacher in Julie Goettsche. She’s a trained florist, actually went to college for it. She had been working here for 6 years, and agreed to stay on after I bought the business. She has already taught me a lot.”

Several different areas of the shop are devoted to gifts. There is a memorial section, a kitchen section and other home decor, a baby section and a children’s area with clothes and toys. Both a wedding registry and a baby gift registry are available.

In addition to fresh flowers, silk arrangements are also popular.

“We do quite a bit of silk,” Gettler said. “On Memorial Day, for example, people came in or called to order and we took arrangements directly out to the cemetery.

“We can have flowers delivered to people in other parts of the country too,” she explained. “One of the more unusual orders we have received was from a soldier in Afghanistan. He’s from Red Oak, and he had his mother call us the Saturday before Mother’s Day, and order floral arrangements for the mothers of three of his buddies who had been killed by a roadside bomb. These moms lived in different parts of the country, but we were able to find florists near each of them and have the flowers delivered that same day or the next, on Mother’s Day.”

Besides Julie Goettsche, Gettler’s mom Karen Jones helps out at the shop, and Sarah Culver pitches in for holidays. Gettler’s dad Bill Jones is her main delivery man. She told this story about him:

“I was in a local store one day and a lady came up to me and said, ‘You’re the new owner of the flower shop, right? Did you know that your delivery man sings “Happy Birthday” when he delivers birthday flowers? It’s been many years since anybody sang to me, and I really appreciated it!’

“Things like that, being a happy part of someone’s day, are what make this job so rewarding,” said Gettler.

Molly Faye’s Flowers and Gifts at 911 N. Broadway in Red Oak is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday - Friday, 9 a..m.-11 a.m. Saturday, and by appointment. For more information, call 623-2428 or visit their website: mollyfayesflowers.com.