{"id":424602,"date":"2026-08-05T16:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424602\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T16:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:30:11","slug":"city-ends-relationship-with-coronado-flower-lady-iconic-flower-shop-to-leave-rotary-plaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424602\/","title":{"rendered":"City ends relationship with Coronado Flower Lady; Iconic flower shop to leave Rotary Plaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Coronado is set to lose its iconic Coronado Flower Lady, and no one is saying why.<\/p>\n

Shanel Albert \u2014 otherwise known as the Coronado Flower Lady \u2014 learned last week that she would no longer be allowed to operate her business at the Rotary Plaza on Orange Avenue at Isabella, where it\u2019s flourished since 1981. She posted a letter from the City on local social media group, Coronado Happenings.<\/p>\n

The letter, signed by Molly Brennan, Interim Deputy City Manager, said that Albert\u2019s commercial use permit was set to expire on August 31. The email read, \u201cYou must cease conducting commercial activity on public property and vacate the premises before the permit expires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albert says she was shocked. She\u2019s owned the business for the last 10 years. The decades-old establishment is celebrated on the island for its quiet, neighborhood appeal and is considered by many to be the quintessential embodiment of small town charm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was blown away,\u201d said Albert. \u201cI was trying to think, what did I do? What happened? I\u2019ve been following all the rules and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albert said that, up until the letter, everything was going well. She said that until the last year, there was no formal rental agreement. She simply went to the city and paid a few months at a time. This is the way it had always been done, she said.<\/p>\n

About a year ago, under new leadership, the city formalized the rental agreement, which was set up with her bank for reoccurring payments. Albert says she\u2019s current on all of her debts, aside from a city-issued, small business COVID loan that she is paying off in monthly installments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was never an issue,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was never anything unpaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Coronado Flower Lady business has been operating at Rotary Plaza since 1981.<\/p>\n

Albert said just last month she\u2019d been in discussions with a city employee about extending her lease for another five years. She said the employee asked her if she would be open to having other businesses operate at the Rotary Plaza, and Albert said she had no problem with this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like they want another business there,\u201d she said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense to me, and why would they ever want to use the iconic flower shop?\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue was reportedly decided at a closed session of Coronado City Council last month. The Coronado Times sent emails to Mayor John Duncan and all of the Coronado City Councilmembers, specifically asking if the Coronado Flower Lady had violated the terms of her lease.<\/p>\n

No one from the city answered this question, and the only council member to respond was Amy Steward. She said she could not share anything beyond what she had previously emailed a community member, which had been subsequently posted to Coronado Happenings.<\/p>\n

Steward said there were \u201cextenuating circumstances\u201d that she was not at liberty to discuss.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer lease is up, and the city has decided to leave the area as a park for the time being,\u201d she wrote in the email. \u201cIf we decide to reopen the space to a business, she will be welcome to apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steward added, \u201cIt is sad that it has come to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Coronado Times asked Steward if Albert was current on her rental payments but did not get a response.<\/p>\n

Kaylee Ricci, the city\u2019s communication and engagement officer, shared that the Flower Lady\u2019s permit is reaching it\u2019s conclusion, and is set to expire on August 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city is returning the park to its full public use while considering potential for the future,\u201d said Ricci. \u201cNo decisions have been made and the city is interested in the community\u2019s ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said future use could include greater public amenities, other community use, or limited commercial uses, as it is extremely rare for the city to grant private commercial use of public space.<\/p>\n

Ricci said that there is no existing litigation involving the Coronado Flower Lady, and that the city will not comment on individual financial and contractual matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city equally values preserving the charm and character of the park and may consider this, along with other possibilities, as it looks to complement the vibrance of downtown,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThis natural conclusion of the permit allows for careful consideration of the future of Rotary Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Local artist Michael Ives created a painting celebrating the Coronado Flower Lady and Rotary Plaza. It is on the Coronado Visitor Center website.<\/p>\n

This is devastating news for Albert, who has enjoyed under-the-market rent at Rotary Plaza, along with her predecessors \u2014 the original Coronado Flower Lady, Diana Gurney, who set up shop in 1981, and Debbie Otto-Smith who took over in 2000.<\/p>\n

Albert started looking at other locations, but the prices are \u201castronomical,\u201d she said. Albert shared that her current rent is $1,200 a month, and many of the other locations are more than $6,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my livelihood, and you know, I\u2019ve done really well with it,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople love flowers, and they come here, and they say\u2026\u2019you are so lucky.\u2019 And I am lucky, but it\u2019s a lot of blood, sweat and tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albert says her love of flowers and nature brought her to the business more than a decade ago when she worked at another flower shop for free to gain experience. Then in 2015 she began working for Otto-Smith, the previous flower lady, who sold Albert the shop a year later.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe saw my passion and sold it to me,\u201d said Albert. \u201cIt\u2019s really special. It\u2019s been a huge blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But it hasn\u2019t always been a bed of roses. In 2017, a drunk driver crashed onto Rotary Plaza<\/a>, demolishing the flower cart. No one was hurt, and the accident enabled Albert to negotiate the build-out of a permanent flower stand with the city. She says this cost her about $30,000, but she was happy to have it.<\/p>\n

She tried a couple other concepts around town, including a pumpkin patch<\/a> and a Christmas tree farm<\/a> that got wiped out in a winter storm<\/a>. But it was always about the flower shop.<\/p>\n

Albert says the flower stand has become the heartbeat of the community. It\u2019s where the Navy wives come to buy flowers, it\u2019s where countless arrangements are made to celebrate life\u2019s happenings and honor passings. She says she\u2019s able to help the community with her creations, including working with nonprofits and supporting first responders.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Coronado Firefighters with a creation from the Coronado Flower Lady in 2017.\"\"<\/a>First responders with bouquets in 2021.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just about the flowers. Albert says there are people that stop by just to talk to her employee, Mason. And oftentimes visitors treat the flower cart like a visitor center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the first stop for every tourist,\u201d said Albert. \u201cBefore they go to the visitor center, they come to me. I send them to restaurants and I tell them where everything is.\u201d<\/p>\n

It makes the city\u2019s decision sting a little more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I just can\u2019t believe it, unless there was something crazy going down, like I was drug dealing or something, or selling alcohol. I can understand some criminal stuff,\u201d said Albert. \u201cBut I\u2019m like, dude, I\u2019m selling flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community members have expressed confusion and anger on social media over the city\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve lived here my entire life and have slowly watched my hometown go from almost exclusively small, locally-owned businesses to being dominated by chains and big corporations,\u201d wrote Jonah Haas. \u201cThis seems to me like a concerted effort to continue down this road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karen Zekan mourns the loss of a local legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiana Gurney fought so hard to create the original flower stand, and Debbie Otto-Smith poured her heart and soul into keeping that business a thriving, economic success,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWhat a shallow, egocentric, shameful move by an ill-minded city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other residents are confused by the city\u2019s decision. Resident Dot Harms said that it didn\u2019t seem fair, given what other local shops and vendors are able to do with their storefronts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe let hordes of clothes and racks, bins of cheap beach toys and sandwich boards clutter blocks of Orange Avenue but the iconic, beautiful flower cart has to go?\u201d asked Harms. \u201cPlease tell me there is a justifiable reason behind what appears to be a very sad decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Albert is asking the community to join together to support the Coronado Flower Lady.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t need money. I don\u2019t need help with debts. I don\u2019t need any of that,\u201d she said. \u201cI just need everyone in the community to come together and let City Council know that this is what we want. It\u2019s to have a flower shop that\u2019s been here so long. It\u2019s sweet and everyone loves it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next Coronado City Council meeting is August 18 at 4 p.m. at City Hall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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