Located at the intersection of Hanley and Wydown resides a new flower shop– BUDS, opened by shop owner Tony Montano on July 29, 2022. Montano’s shop specializes in unique, hard-to-find flowers in lush arrangements, such as gloriosa and mini calla lilies. In addition to floral arrangements, Montano also offers seasonal decorations and plants. 

The cozy interior of Montano’s shop is beautifully expressed through his passion for design. The ceiling of the room is accented with a chandelier and red lanterns reminiscent of celebrations. Customers walk in and out of the shop, browsing arrangements and picking up seasonal orders.

Montano created his small business by selling floral bouquets and decor for weddings and events. However, business slowed down due to COVID-19 when weddings and other events were canceled. But even with the setbacks, Montano found a way to promote his business: “I decided I would advertise on my website and we could arrange for floral delivery and that took off. I knew we needed to open up a shop,” said Montano. 

The shop has received great feedback and support from the community, “The neighborhood has been very supportive of us, they have been coming and picking up flowers,” he said. After researching other areas to open up his shop, Montano was thinking about opening up his store in Ladue but decided the best location to open up his shop was in the heart of downtown Clayton, “I have a lot of clientele in this area and the area we were looking at in Ladue already had two floral shops so I decided this would be a nice area,” said Montano. 

When deciding on flowers, Montano handpicks the arrangements after deliberating many aspects of the event. As stated on the BUDS website, “this special day is designed with much consideration given to the bride and groom’s personalities, personal styles and vision for the ceremony and celebration so that they are all well reflected in every detail of the wedding,” said one customer. 

Montano’s clients are raving over his work, “My bridesmaids were in awe and my bouquet was just as I imagined. The reception lit up the whole room and received many, many compliments,” wrote one customer, Maria, on the BUDS website.