OXFORD FLORAL
Oxford Floral offers upscale services in all floral needs, gifts for all ages, a large range of accessories for the home, and full bridal registry of crystals, chinas and linens. We are located in the home of Mississippi’s oldest university about 100 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. Though Oxford is a fairly small town, the University of Mississippi provides us with an ever-changing clientele of sophisticated students, parents, visitors, alumni and faculty, many of whom continue to shop with us long after they leave the University. The interests and needs of this client base are cosmopolitan and informed, giving Oxford Floral the ability to successfully market a unique blend of diverse traditional and non-traditional wares.

While we strive to show the work of local, Mississippi like the McCartys of Merigold, Pace Pottery and Spirit Song Pottery out of Oxford and Southern artisans and craftsmen such as Erich Emmenegger with his Triple E pieces and Cal Breed of Orbix Hot Glass, we also offer pieces by artisans such as Frances Palmer and Alison Evans, as well as the hand painted ceramics of Mary Rose Young of England.

Among our other offerings are fine china by Mottahedah, Herend, Royal Crown Derby, Bernardaud, J.L. Coquet, Anna Weatherly and Philippe DeShoulieres; everyday patterns Gien, Casafina, Juliska, Vietri, Jars and Bauer; crystal from Waterford, Moser, Vera Wang and William Yeoward; glassware by Annieglass, Wauhatchie, Peandoublyu, Artland, Pomeroy and Tamara Childs. We carry a large selection of jewelry as well as candle and bath lines Seda France, Votivo, Elizabeth W, Manuel Canovas, Urban Ritual, Aromatique and Hillhouse Naturals. Alongside these name brands, we strive to display the very latest and most appealing from the high-design and new-to-show sections of all the major markets in New York, Atlanta, Dallas, High Point, Los Angeles and San Francisco which we frequent throughout the year.

Our goal is to offer North Mississippi, the surrounding area, and its visitors, gifts and accessories they would expect to find only in the upscale boutique areas of major cities. We’ve been featured in Southern Accents magazine, Mississippi Magazine, Southern Living magazine and lauded for our cutting edge product lines and display practices.

HISTORY
Oxford Floral Company & Greenhouses was started in 1924 on the corner of Jefferson and Lamar Avenue, right off the Courthouse Square. Hassel W. Smith operated the business along with his family. The florist and greenhouses had originally been started by his mother. Along with everyday floral and the store front, the Smiths maintained their own greenhouses on site and delivered within a 50 mile radius to other wholesalers in the area. Oxford Floral was the second flower shop in Mississippi to be a part of the FTD (Florist’s Transworld Delivery) wire service, linking the North Mississippi shop to thousands of others around the world.

When Hassel married Jane Hunt, who was then FTD director at large, the original store was torn down and the Smiths built a Holiday Inn, commonly referred to as “The Downtowner,” with a beautiful new gift store placed at the front of the hotel with the floral operations in the back. Jane Smith sourced specialty items and goods from all over the United States and filled the new store with elegant pieces and treasures that appealed to all demographics in the area, beginning the trend that would make Oxford Floral Company the destination for gifts for years and years to come.

In 1969, Sylvia and Joe Lowe bought the business from the Smith family and moved the store to its current location. The fixer upper house at 1103 Jefferson saw renovations and additions as the business grew and then later changed hands to Bette and Jeffery Butler in 1973.

When Bette and Jeffery took over, the young couple looked for opportunities to make the business bigger and to offer more services. This included expanding the store on multiple occasions, from a new design room and cooler space, to the addition of the china room which would house and accommodate the new bridal registry service, introduced in the late 1980’s, and the countless lines of upscale gift, home accessories and tabletop fashions the Butlers acquired in the largest gift markets throughout the United States. They also began to incorporate lines of pottery and products from Mississippi artisans, making Oxford Floral a mecca for all things handmade in Mississippi as well as the best place in town to buy a distinctive, inventive floral arrangement with premium plant materials and luxury flowers flown in daily from the Netherlands, South America or California.

David and Katie Naron purchased the business from the Butlers in September 2009 with the intention to continue the level of service and product offering that has been the hallmark of Oxford Floral for the last 82 years. Oxford Floral continues the long tradition of being family-owned and operated as well as being the place to plan your floral events and find the perfect gift for anyone.