It’s hard to tell who has more affinity for the other: local florist Stephen Hein or his customers.
For more than 30 years, long-time clients have purchased their holiday wreathes, special arrangements for Easter and Derby, bouquets for Mother’s Day and fresh flowers “just because” from Stephen “Steve” Hein at his shop, E. Stephen Hein Florist. Hein’s personal touch has kept clients coming back for decades, many of them now considering him a friend.
“I always say that we do from birth to death and everything in between,” he said. “We send [arrangements] to the hospital for new babies being born daily, and unfortunately, I have buried a lot of my early clientele, who were not young at the time when I started. I miss a lot of them.” As for the in-between, Hein supplies flowers for plenty of weddings and special events along the way.
Lexington florist Stephen Hein. At top, Hein is pictured with his granddaughter, Kelsey Hein Smith, who has been working in the shop for the past several years, as a floral designer and the shop’s social media manager. Photos by Bill Straus
Hein first opened his shop in 1987, in the East Main Street apartment building Wellington Arms. He worked his floral magic for customers in the building’s basement until his six-year lease was up, at which time he moved down the street to a space next to Heritage Antiques’ Main Street location at the time. When that property was sold in 2008, he pulled up stakes and headed to Winchester Road at Midland, where the shop was located for a decade.
In December of 2018, however, the florist company took root in a new spot – one from which he hopes to eventually retire. The building is at 380 E. Second St., on the corner of Eastern Avenue about a block down from Martine’s Pastries. Hein is leasing to buy, with plans to fully take ownership of the building by the end of 2023.
“Of all the buildings I have been in, I love this building best,” he said. “It’s a beautiful two-story, interesting, neat building. The neighbors all thank me for being here.”
Though it lacks some of the “drive by” visibility of his former locations, the quiet, neighborhood-oriented building offers plentiful parking and an ease of coming and going that the busy thoroughfare locations lacked.
With abundant natural light and exposed interior brick walls, the space is full of charm – and flowers, of course. Hein’s selection of flesh blooms range from anemone, delphinium and freesia to calla lilies, pink Tabledance lilies and gerbera daisies, with dahlias, irises and tulips in between.
“I could go on,” Hein said. Small bulb gardens – landscaped with moss and decorated by hand by Hein with miniature garden critters – are popular with his customers this time of year, as the flowers can be planted during the summer and will come back every year.
Almost all his lilies come from Little Miami Flower Co., a wholesaler near Cincinnati.
“We buy a lot from the local wholesalers,” Hein said. “I try to do most of it pretty locally.”
When he opened shop in 1987, he was asked to handle floral arrangements for such charitable events as the Lexington Ball, the Steeplechase Ball in Cincinnati and Beaux Arts Krewe Ball in Birmingham. In more recent years, his work has been seen at the annual Fabby Abbey Ball, a benefit for KET held at Spindletop Hall.
Hein first came to Lexington in 1961 from his home state of Indiana. While attending Evansville College (before it became the University of Evansville) in the late ’50s, he got an offer to become an ice skating instructor in Terre Haute, Indiana. Then he was hired by Crystal Ice Palace, located in Lexington’s new Gardenside Shopping Center, in 1961. The developers of the center, Pierson-Trapp Co., operated the outdoor skating facility in winter and had a swim club called Cabana Club during the summertime, both of which closed around 1964.
Those same developers invited Hein to join as a managing partner in the Villager Gift Shop, he said. For several years, Hein ran the retail store: a bridal registry shop with gifts, antiques, an art gallery and framing department. The Villager Gift Shop was advertised in national magazines like House & Garden and House Beautiful, and gave Hein his first experience buying beautiful silk flowers, which had become available to the gift market “just after the horrible episode of awful plastic flowers for homes,” he recalled. By the time he changed the name of the shop to E. Stephen Hein, Inc., customers were coming in requesting silk flower arrangements en masse.
“I had to do an arrangement like I knew what I was doing,” Hein said with a laugh, recalling his early foray into floral arranging.
Hein set up shop in a new Second Street storefront in December 2018. Having been located in several different buildings since 1987, Hein says he “loves this building the best.” Photo by Bill Straus
Over the next two decades, the gift shop in Gardenside closed and Hein became involved with a couple of other businesses and jobs, including a stint at W.P. Pemberton & Sons Greenhouses.
“I didn’t know what was going on with that shop, but I thought I wouldn’t mind going in to learn the flower shop business,” he said. It turned out that they were looking for a manager. Building off his experience with silk flower arrangements, he soon learned how to work with natural flowers and plants, and in 1987, he left Pemberton’s to open his own shop.
Today, Hein’s floral shop has turned into a true family affair, with his granddaughter, Kelsey Hein Smith, having worked alongside him since graduating from Eastern Kentucky University in 2017. A floral designer and the store’s social media manager, Smith calls her grandfather PoPo – except during business hours.
“It’s weird to call him Steve,” she admitted.
Thoughtful, artistic expression has always been appreciated in the floral business, and remains a staple of Hein’s business model. While centerpieces and corsages are less common than they were at the start of his business, sending flowers across town – or even across the country – remains a popular action, and Hein can help with both. Some of his loyal clients utilize his services not only for local flower delivery but also to coordinate out-of-state arrangements for funerals or special occasions.
“We know what to say to the other florist, the dos and don’ts of what to use and what not to use,” Hein said, explaining that his clients appreciate his specific aesthetic. His penchant for communicating the specifics of that aesthetic when “calling out” orders to other florists hasn’t gone unnoticed, as the shop has often been lauded for orders that Hein helps coordinate across the country.
Former and fellow florists have also expressed their gratitude to Hein over the years.
“They have told me that when I set up shop in Lexington in 1987, I raised the bar for what florists do to make a show with their flower arrangements,” he said. “I thought that was a very nice compliment.”
E. Stephen Hein Florist is located at 380 E. Second St. More info is available at www.estephenheinflorist.com.
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Hein’s floral inventory includes fresh flowers, silk flowers, seasonal bulb gardens, orchids, peace lilies and more. Photo by Bill Straus
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Hein’s floral inventory includes fresh flowers, silk flowers, seasonal bulb gardens, orchids, peace lilies and more. Photo by Bill Straus
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Hein’s floral inventory includes fresh flowers, silk flowers, seasonal bulb gardens, orchids, peace lilies and more. Photo by Bill Straus
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Hein’s floral inventory includes fresh flowers, silk flowers, seasonal bulb gardens, orchids, peace lilies and more. Photo by Bill Straus