For a company to make it to its 130th birthday, there must be some big secret, something unique no other company could replicate, right? According to Anne Keller Oram and her sister, Susan Oram Baker, the secret to success for Oram's Florist is quality and customer service, a tradition that started with its founder John Anton Keller in 1877.
Oram and Baker, longtime employees at Oram's and great-granddaughters of the founder, recently purchased the shop, taking ownership Oct. 1, just six weeks before the company's milestone birthday on Nov. 14. Their purchase brings the florist back into the family as its previous owners, Tony and Vicky Cheaney, were the first non-family owners in the company's history.
Both Baker and Oram started working in the shop in their teens. "I have no idea what I would do except this," said Oram. Her sister's first experience at the store was learning to make Easter corsages from longtime Oram's employee Ethel Howerton. "She was there long before I came along and worked several years after that," said Baker.
While the family history is important, both sisters credited many non-family members with giving them the tools necessary to bring the business back under Oram ownership, and with helping keep the company running all these years. Oram said she learned many of the ins-and-outs of the business from the Cheaneys, under whom she worked for 6 1/2 years. In addition to Howerton, Baker said longtime employees like Shirley Wyatt, now in her 28th year with the company, and Barbara Steele, who is at 12 years and counting, keep up the quality and customer service that has maintained Oram's reputation. "We've had employees who have been here, left, and come back," said Oram.
The sisters, who are also the first female owners of Oram's, said they remember their grandfather, Albert E. Oram, stressing taking care of the customer first. His granddaughters still reap some of those benefits. "We have kept some customers since his day," said Oram. " 'your grandfather did my wedding,' we hear that a lot," she said.
Mary Waugh has been a regular client for at least four decades. " I knew the people and it was convenient," said Waugh. "They've always just done great work. I've just always gotten real good service and it's a friendly atmosphere.
"You never have to worry when you send something from Oram's, it's going to be just first class," she said. "The few times I got something from other places, I didn't find that to be true. My relatives know if I'm going to get flowers I'd prefer to get them from them.
From its first location on Sixth Street