Ecostems - The Most Popular Flower Shop In Toronto

Ecostems is a flower shop in Corktown, Toronto, Canada. They write their name as eco|stems and describe themselves as “an environmentally and socially sustainable flower shop.” Located at the heart of Toronto’s business and commercial zone, Ecostems offers online ordering options and delivery services beyond their brick-and-mortar retail outlet. Their homepage displays an array of flower arrangements, some of which are breathtakingly beautiful. Besides, they have terrariums, other plants, gift cards, and other gift items. Ecostems are open seven days a week: from 9 in the morning to 7 in the evening on weekdays and from 10 AM to 6 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Claim to Sustainability

Intrigued by the flower shop’s claim to be socially and environmentally sustainable, I did some research. Ecostems have a right to claim they are responsible to the environment and society at large because they are a Fair Trade organization. Fairtrade International is a nonprofit organization involving multiple stakeholders. They aim to empower farmers, artisans, workers, and other local producers. Fairtrade seeks to do that by building local capacities.

On the other hand, they directly connect local producers with consumers to increase their control of trading terms. Fairtrade promotes ecological responsibility and social equity. To be a Fairtrade organization, any company has to abide by these principles. Fairtrade Canada was founded in 1997 as the Canadian national branch of Fairtrade International. As a certified Fairtrade Canada organization, Ecostems is thus a flower shop that conducts its business with a commitment to ecological responsibility and social equity. They sell only organically grown flowers and plants and source them from local farmers and nurseries following fairtrade principles.

Ecostem’s Offerings in Flower

Ecostems has considerably more to offer than any other standard flower shop. Beyond bouquets specially tied by hand as per customer choice and vase arrangements, Ecostems offers flower workshops. They invite customers to participate with them in learning how to make bouquets and how best to care for their flowers on stipulated workshop dates announced in advance. They also offer to do private flower workshops against a fee. However, it is unclear whether their in-shop seminars are free of cost or not. Eco|stems have created floral art pieces featured in museums. They offer this service to customers also.

Ecostem’s Other Merchandise

This flower shop offers several plants to customers, starting with air plants and covering up to air purifying plants. They also have cacti and succulents, indoor plants, a diverse collection of tropical plants and ferns. Terrariums feature as a separate category item on this flower shop’s webpage. They offer terrariums for air plants and desert plants. They also supply large-scale terrariums and hold terrarium workshops to inform customers about which type of container is best for which type of plants. They also have greeting cards and stone items from Fairtrade on offer.

What the Customers Say

To gain real insight into what customers say about this flower shop, I did independent internet research on customer reviews for Ecosystems. Out of 35 reviews that do not feature oon their webpage, I was pleasantly surprised to find that none was harmful.