A historic Washington, D.C. florist is enjoying a bit of TikTok fame.
Lee’s Flowers and Card Shop was featured this month in two videos for Intuit QuickBooks in celebration of Women’s History Month. The shop is co-owned by sisters and third-generation florists Stacie Lee Banks, AAF, and Kristie Lee Jones.
“Intuit QuickBooks frequently features our small business customers on our social channels to amplify their voices and bring together the small business community through relatable journeys,” says Shauna Maher Sr., marketing manager of Intuit QuickBooks Brand Social. “We were inspired by the multigenerational success of Lee’s Flowers.”
Banks was surprised by the email query from QuickBooks, a company whose financial management software Lee’s has used for about 20 years. Banks and Jones spruced up the shop and hosted a small production crew in January, answering questions about the shop’s history, products, and finances.
“It was a fun experience,” says Banks. “It’s just funny how you can be there for two hours and get 30 seconds on a TikTok.”
The footage was edited for two videos, both of which were posted online last week. The first, a 35-second feature, focuses on the history of the business. Lee’s Flowers was founded in 1945 on U Street by Banks and Lee’s grandparents, William and Winnifred Lee. At the time, U Street was a hub for the Black community. Located a short walk from Howard University, a historic Black college, U Street featured Black-owned retailers, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
“It was considered Black Broadway back in the day,” says Banks, noting that beloved entertainers such as Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey would perform at U Street clubs.
The second TikTok video is 20 seconds long. It focuses on money matters, including how to manage cash flow. Banks says she freely answered questions about the shop’s finances during the video shoot, including that her grandparents started the business with $100.
Twenty-five years later, her grandparents purchased the building on U Street, a move Banks says was incredible in hindsight. While the area has seen economic highs and lows, including a period of mass business closures when Metro station construction shut down street traffic, the area is currently booming. If their grandparents hadn’t bought the building, Lee’s Flowers may not have been able to afford to lease the space today, Banks says.
It was that foresight that allowed the Lees to pass the business, and the building, to their son, Rick Lee, who ran the shop for many years. He trained his daughters in the business, giving them the skills they needed to take up the mantle in 2012.
“He gave us the option of whether we wanted to keep the business going or sell it,” recalls Banks. “That’s a lot of pressure, but we were up to the challenge.”
Now Banks and her sister are training the next generation to take over. Their 20-something-year-old daughters both work at Lee’s, one in the flagship store on U Street, the other managing the satellite location they opened last year at Union Station. Banks says they’ll pass the torch in 10 years or so, when she and Jones are ready to retire and their daughters are ready to make the shop their own.
Laurie Herrera is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
