Desert Rose Floral Designs Local owner celebrates a team effort

OTHELLO — Desert Rose Floral Designs owner Melody Anguiano was looking for a career opportunity, and found it in a business that technically wasn’t for sale.

“I happened to see a sign that Desert Rose was for sale. But I wasn’t supposed to see that sign because (then-owner Renee Para) had taken it down, she thought,” Anguinao said.

Anguiano had a day job and refinished furniture as a side gig. She went into Desert Rose to talk to Para about the possibility of putting some of her furniture in the shop on consignment.

Desert Rose, 745 E. Hemlock St. in Othello, was and is a floral and gift shop. Anguiano knew nothing about flowers or making floral arrangements - but that didn’t matter.

“I wanted to be in a creative business,” she said. “I was pretty much open to anything that has to do with creativity and interior design, and I saw the opportunity.”

Para had advertised the business for sale, then changed her mind and removed all the signs - except for the one Anguiano happened to see. The thought of a buyer made Para reconsider.

“That kind of opened up the interest again. And then five weeks later, it was in my name,” Anguiano said.

She purchased Desert Rose in 2015, and it was both exciting and scary, she said.

“I knew it would succeed, but it was like - how? I’d never made a flower arrangement in my life. At that time I’d never cared for any plants successfully,” she said. “How am I going to do this?”

But she was confident she would succeed, she said.

“I knew I’d pick it up,” she said. “It was just a matter of how long it would take me to learn. It was kind of a ‘fake it until you make it’ kind of thing, honestly, as far as the flowers go.”

Not only did she succeed, Desert Rose expanded from a floral and gift shop to a floral shop, gift shop and jewelry and clothing boutique. Plans are in the works to open a cafe as well, Anguiano said.

Para stayed on for a few months to help Anguiano learn the art of floral arrangement. The new owner added more gifts, then some clothing, and expanded her clothing space in 2021, she said. The cafe is currently under construction and scheduled to open sometime this year.

At the same time she was learning floral arrangement and the art of running a business, she was learning the gift and home decoration side of the shop as well.

“Purchasing merchandise for a full customer base - that was very interesting - and it still is to this day. You don’t ever really learn what people want, you kind of get a feel for some of the popular themes. But it’s almost like, by the time you get a feel for it, the trend is over,” she said.

The Columbia Basin tends to lag behind urban areas when it comes to things like decorating trends, Anguiano said. Social media has made people more aware of current trends, but there can still be a difference between what’s popular in Othello and what’s popular in Seattle or Los Angeles. That means the Desert Rose has to be careful not to be too far out in front of its customers.

“Learning floral design, how to run a business, how to have employees and how to choose merchandise for your store. It’s a lot, but I tend to do better when I have a lot on my plate. I get more done,” Anguiano said.

Her parents and other family members provided crucial support, she said, since they also owned their own businesses.

“I grew up in an entrepreneur household,” she said. “So I was confident that I would have the resources to go to when I had questions.”

Anguiano said her husband, Jorge Anguiano, and their four children are also supportive of the business. They are willing to help when mom’s attention has to be on the business, she said.

“It’s definitely a team effort,” she said. “Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, (in the floral business) those are intense. We have a pep talk with the kids the week before, and it’s like, ‘Okay, guys, this time is coming up. I know that it’s tough. I know that it’s stressful and I come home later. But, this is our harvest, and this literally helps feed our family.’ We all have to work together and keep the house going.”

Anguiano said she wasn’t certain about the cafe proposal when it first came up, since she didn’t want to learn another business. But for many of her customers, Desert Rose isn’t only a place to buy flowers or gifts.

“Ladies will come in and tell me this is their break. And they’re browsing the store for a couple hours. I want Desert Rose to be a place where people hang out, even more so than it already is,” Anguiano said.

Customers help make owning the business a satisfying experience, she added.

“I love people, and I love interacting with people. And the fact that people are excited to spend even more time in Desert Rose, I don’t think there’s anything better for me as a business owner.

“Obviously, you’re in it to make a living, but it’s not even that,” she said. “We built something as a team, as a family, that people are looking forward to, that people are recommending to their family and friends. That just literally blows my mind.”