OUR HISTORY
Our history: A story of hope

When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, marking the end of communism in eastern Europe, Stancho and Irena Bogdanov, like so many of their fellow citizens, took advantage of their new-found freedom and struck out for a new life in the West, eventually settling in Ottawa.

Stancho, a master masonry worker, made the transition easily, but Irena discovered that her qualifications as an auditor were not as transferable. Undeterred, she found employment with a flower wholesaler and, finding she greatly enjoyed the industry, decided to enrol in Algonquin College's Floral Design program. Soon after graduating, she opened the Crystal Calla flower shop in 1996 in a small storefront on Montreal Road.

Renamed Ottawa Flowers in 1998 to make it as easy as possible for customers to find the store online, the business quickly grew in both size and reputation. With rapid growth came the need for more space, so Irena moved the store to its current Thurston Road location in 2006.

Everyone in the family helped out in the business from time to time, including Stancho and her two boys, Pavel and Toma. Pavel, in particular, had an affinity for the business, even running his own flower kiosk at L'Esplanade Laurier (Bank at Laurier) while studying Commerce at the University of Ottawa.

A tradition of excellence Now, as the General Manager of Ottawa Flowers, Pavel and his team continue to honour his parents' memory and the dream that began in that small storefront almost 20 years ago.

And although the Ottawa Flowers family has grown, our commitment to providing our customers with outstanding products and services remains unchanged.

We are multilingual. Services offered in:
English, French, Bulgarian, Russian, Spanish, Arabic,Tamil, Hindi, and Taiwanese