Gary native Jonathan Portis started The House of Elegant Florals Shop in his mother’s house in 2020, but starting Saturday, he’ll showcase his arrangements in a brand new storefront.
“God allowed me to get to the point where I was able to afford a spot,” Portis told the Post-Tribune. “The orders are just flourishing.”The shop, located at 1978 Grant St. in the Steel City, will have its grand opening at noon Saturday, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony and raffle.
The new store, complete with a lobby, consultation area and wedding planning section, sits near the intersection of Grant Street and 20th Avenue in Gary’s Tolleston Neighborhood. Jonathan Portis owner of The House of Elegant Florals Shop at 1978 Grant Street, in Gary on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. . When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the United States in early 2020, Portis was working for the Lake County Coroner’s Office as a deputy coroner, and experience he said left his “anxiety on 100.”By the end of April 2020, 15 people had died of COVID-related complications in Gary alone. In May of that year, Lake County saw an average daily death toll from COVID of between three and four people. Portis and his colleagues were responsible for documenting and transporting deceased victims of what was then still a very poorly understood disease, all while attempting to safeguard their own health. “It was the fear of the unknown, it’s something out there that you can’t see,” he said. “It was like walking into third world countries when we were inside the hospital.” Though he described his work at the coroner’s office overall as a “great experience,” Portis eventually had had enough. He left and briefly worked as a funeral home administrator before quitting to pursue his own business. “I’m like, ‘you know what, I am so tired of seeing death and gloom and doom. I want to do something that can put a smile on people’s faces’,” Portis said. “Somebody walked in with some flowers at the funeral home and I’m like ‘that’s it!’” His mother Rosalind was encouraging, he said, and allowed him to turn the back of her home into a makeshift flower store. Business was slow at first, but grew steadily through word of mouth, even before he set up a website. Sympathy arrangements make up a large portion of his business, Portis said, but he also provides flowers for weddings, school and church functions, family celebrations, and more. Jonathan Portis is the owner of The House of Elegant Florals Shop, located at 1978 Grant Street, in Gary on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. . With the opening of his Gary storefront, Portis already has his eye on further expansion, and said he plans to eventually open storefronts in Chicago and Indianapolis. Putting down roots first in his hometown, however, was important to him. Portis, who graduated from Lew Wallace High School in 2009 and is the last of his siblings still living in Gary, said he wanted his business to benefit the place where he grew up. “A lot of people ask me ‘why are you still in Gary? You graduated, you don’t have no record, you’re not a bad guy’.” Portis said. “I’m gonna be something for the city, not only for the city, but for Northwest Indiana.”Advertisement
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