THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - Gail Schwartzenberger works with some of the more pleasant things in life – flowers, candy and chocolate.

Gail Schwartzenberger is the owner-operator of Little Shop of Flowers/Northern Delights in Fort Smith. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

She is the owner/operator of Little Shop of Flowers/Northern Delights in Fort Smith. "What better than having flowers and chocolate and candy?" she said.

Schwartzenberger started Little Shop of Flowers in 2004 in a different location. After acquiring Northern Delights in 2006, she combined the two businesses in the NorthwesTel building, where Northern Delights has operated for at least 15 years under three different owners.

"It is a good combination because people buy flowers and then add a few chocolates to it," Schwartzenberger said, adding other people buy chocolates and add a rose or two.

Hers is a year-round business, but it is especially busy around Valentine's Day, Christmas, Mother's Day and graduations. Then, there are also birthday celebrations throughout the year.

Some people buy flowers and chocolates as gifts without needing a special occasion, Schwartzenberger noted. "It's amazing how many are just because."

Most of her business – about 65 per cent – involves flowers, while the rest is chocolate, candy and coffee. In the warmer months, she also sells ice cream.

"Ice cream is really big in the summer," she said, noting she sells ice cream from April to September. In the winter, the demand switches to hot chocolate. "That's when hot chocolate comes in," Schwartzenberger said. "Hot chocolate is very popular throughout the winter."

She sells eight different flavours of hot chocolate. There are also over 30 different kinds of candy, including popular sour candy, available at her store.

"There's more and more demand for sugar-free," she said. "That goes for chocolate and candy."

Throughout the year, customers can have a coffee on a bench inside the store, but the space for enjoying coffee moves outdoors in the summer to tables in front of the store.

"A lot of people utilize those areas in the summertime," Schwartzenberger said.

She sells about two dozen types of coffee – regular, flavoured, decaffeinated, Colombian, espresso, and more. As for flowers, she offers many different varieties – carnations, roses, lilies, irises, daisies and more.

Little Shop of Flowers/Northern Delights occupies a compact space in the front section of the NorthwesTel building. "You can't add anything else," Schwartzenberger said when asked if she was planning any changes.

Her business is also a payment centre for NorthwesTel.

Schwartzenberger has lived in Fort Smith for 31 years, after moving to the town from Calgary with her husband. The 63-year-old previously worked in the offices of two companies – splitting her time between both – and the owners retired at about the same time.

"When they left, I kind of thought I needed a change, too," she recalled. She was still interested in being in touch with the public, and her two businesses allow her to do that.

Noting she taught herself how to run the businesses, Schwartzenberger said she appreciated the support from customers who were understanding while she learned.