Modern Day Floral to relocate boutique, design center to Aslan building in Grand Rapid's Westside

Deborah Johnson Wood

Modern Day Floral in downtown Grand Rapids began as one woman's dream to create a floral boutique where clients and friends could shop, enjoy a cup of coffee and gab.

But since the launch of an events design service last year, the business has outgrown its boutique location and a design/warehouse space in the Brass Works Building, prompting a move to Bob Israels' Aslan building, 769 Seward Ave. NW.

Modern Day Floral and its affiliate, A Modern Event, will occupy about 3,000 square feet of space currently occupied by Israels' The Other Store, a furniture showroom that will discontinue business in early summer.

While the new shop will offer traditional florist services, owner Jennifer Ederer plans to help create what she calls a "design mecca" through collaboration with the nearby John Widdicomb Trade Center, an interior design center that attracts designers from around the country.

"This is very different than a traditional florist," Ederer says. "We do a lot of event design work – anything you can think of to make an event beautiful. With fabrics, specialty linens, specialty seating, and china, glassware and flatware you can rent, we spend a lot of time talking to people about what's happening on the table and pulling the complete work together."

Ederer has designed the new space to include vignettes of table arrangements, lighting and seating so clients planning an event can experience the atmosphere created by different table settings, furnishings and lighting.

"If you're having a dinner party and want to have a spring gardeney look, that's the vignette we'd have so you can see our vases and linens and colors and what's available," Ederer says. "We'll have a dedicated meeting room where I can pull linens, floral samples, and totally give my full attention to the client."

In the meantime, Modern Day has relocated the downtown boutique to its warehouse in the Brass Works building until the new space is ready.

Source: Jennifer Ederer, Modern Day Floral and A Modern Event

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].