![\"Customers](\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/uploads\/images\/2026\/01\/16\/405144.jpg\")
Customers can purchase fresh, pre-made flower arrangements from the cooler. (Karen Chaney\/Community Impact)Collier said her personal favorite flowers are stargazers because they smell good and tulips because they remind her of spring.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhile working on a flower arrangement in the Allen Flower Shop workroom, co-owner Ginger Kerr Collier points to different sections of the room that stir up memories of family members who stood where she stands today.<\/p>\n
In 1972, when Collier was 2 years old, her father, Jim Kerr, bought Allen Flower Shop for her mother, Carolyn Kerr. The Allen couple relocated the business within Allen to the current location in 1973. Collier officially became co-owner of the business with her father in 2025 but has been running the business for the past 15 years, she said.<\/p>\n
The setup<\/p>\n
Customers can stop by the shop to purchase fresh, premade flower arrangements from the cooler, select individual stems, or order custom or predesigned arrangements either in person or online. Some customers choose a flower subscription, which provides regular deliveries on a preset schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does it every six weeks and has been doing it for six or seven years. We change his [arrangement] up with different colors or different vases. He treats my drivers, including me, like we’re friends,\u201c Collier said of an Allen resident whose subscription always includes carnations for his wife. \u201cShe loves everything that we do. They’re very complimentary\u2014the perfect customer for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The details<\/p>\n
Collier said she orders flowers from Dallas flower wholesalers who source them from a variety of places including Ecuador, Canada and the United States.<\/p>\n
Top-selling flowers at Allen Flower Shop are roses, stargazer lilies and hydrangeas.<\/p>\n
Customers can purchase fresh, pre-made flower arrangements from the cooler. (Karen Chaney\/Community Impact)Collier said her personal favorite flowers are stargazers because they smell good and tulips because they remind her of spring.<\/p>\n
Florists at Allen Flower Shop create a variety of flower arrangements ranging from traditional to contemporary styles. Customers can choose to duplicate a pre-designed arrangement or give the florist design parameters and let them create a custom arrangement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like people to give us creative license to create, because I feel like you get a little bit more value than copying what I call a \u2018paint-by-numbers’ arrangement,\u201d Collier said.<\/p>\n
The impact<\/p>\n
The busiest seasons at Allen Flower Shop are Mother\u2019s Day, Valentine\u2019s Day and Christmas. The top three reasons people buy flowers are birthdays, anniversaries and sympathy.<\/p>\n
Collier said she feels honored when customers order flowers for a funeral from her and finds comfort in her religious beliefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s an honor to honor their loved one with flowers,\u201d Collier said. \u201cWhen somebody is grieving … at a funeral, I like to think of all the beautiful flowers at a service and think about their beautiful life. I’m a believer and I like to think about the beautiful life that they’re experiencing in heaven and the beauty that they’re seeing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The background<\/p>\n
Collier said when her father bought Allen Flower Shop for her mother as a birthday present, it was meant to give her a hobby.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad always jokes and says, \u2018Men, buy your wife flowers, not a whole flower shop,\u2019\u201d Collier said.<\/p>\n
The Kerr family home, which is where Jim Kerr has lived since 1968, is located a short bike ride from the shop.<\/p>\n
Whether looking at the walk-in cooler her father and two brothers built, or glancing at the floor near the sink in the workroom, many of Collier\u2019s family memories stem from the more than half-a-century-old family business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen mom was the only place in town to get homecoming mums\u2014 they were very different: it was like five ribbons and a real mum. My grandmother used to sit on the floor and melt candle wax on the back of the fresh flower,\u201d Collier said. \u201cThere were times when mom would be out the side door, people driving through, and she gave them their mums, because she was the only one in town\u2014everybody had to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
While growing up, Collier didn\u2019t aspire to work at or own the family business. She pursued a career as a drill team instructor and later while raising her family, working at Allen Flower Shop afforded her the flexibility she wanted to be active in her children\u2019s activities. As her children grew, she became more involved with the day-to-day operations of the business and has come to enjoy the career path.<\/p>\n