Flowers by CONTEMPO Opens Gorgeous Flower and Gift Shop in Gate Village

Partner’s 88-year Old Mum Cuts Ribbon

Flowers by CONTEMPO announced today the opening of its newest location in the Gate Village at Dubai International Financial Centre. Mrs. Gwendoline Van Ess, mother of partner Brian Van Ess visiting from Palm Beach, Florida, accepted the honour of officially cutting the ribbon and opening the shop.

The unusual location on the ‘hypocaust level’ of Building 5 creates a distinctive setting as guests and passers-by on the podium level actually look down into the front garden area of the shop. “It presents the customer with a visual feeling of a quaint basement flower shop situated along some Parisian side street,” remarked Terrance Bramble, an international fresh cut flower wholesaler. “It’s anything but a quaint little flower shop. It’s a stunning flower and gift shop in a brilliant location.”

Situated ‘below’ the new Christy’s offices and around the corner from Florian and Zuma restaurants, the shop is the largest flower shop anywhere along the Sheik Zayed corridor. The “L-shaped” outlet is 1,250 square feet, and is the second largest flower shop positioned in a fully retail environment in Dubai. Only CONTEMPO’s other shop in UPTOWN MotorCity is larger.

“Our flowers come from all over the world,” stated Stephen Eisenhart, another partner and General Manager. “CONTEMPO buys the flowers we sell only from the very best farms in different parts of the world. For example we buy our roses from Ecuador and Columbia, considered the largest and highest quality roses anywhere. Our orchids come from Thailand and we personally selected the grower several years ago when we toured the region,” added Mr. Eisenhart.

Visitors stepping into the shop will find a huge assortment of fresh cut flowers ready to be selected by the guest themselves and then prepared into a wonderful bouquet, table centrepiece, office arrangement, entrance display, baby basket, or stunning bridal bouquet. Sadie Green, the shop Manager, added that “Along with the chosen flowers, we have a wide assortment of vases, containers, bowls, plates, bud vases, and accessories to compliment any requested flower order.”

Brian Van Ess, Creative Director of CONTEMPO, designed the unique shop with a special customer in mind. “Because of the shape, we have set off one part of the “L” as a specialized bridal saloon. Here, brides and their families can have a private meeting with our designers and florists as we go about designing the decorations and flowers for their wedding reception. It’s a wonderful set-up for our Arabic brides in particular, as well as for our Indian and Western brides.”

Welcoming Flowers by CONTEMPO to the DIFC family of retailers, Maryam Al Falasi, Head of Corporate Communication at DIFC Authority said, “In addition to being the region’s leading financial hub, the Dubai International Financial Centre is committed to providing businesses, residents, and visitors with an exciting life-style community of galleries, restaurants, and specialized boutiques. Flowers by CONTEMPO helps us fulfill this mandate with its beautiful, full-service flower shop where all our stakeholders can select and purchase the finest flowers in the world, along with a selective assortment of corporate and personal gift items. CONTEMPO has been creating beautiful florals for more than 10-years in Dubai. After a long wait, we welcome them and look forward to supporting CONTEMPO to realize their full potential as a contributing member of the community – making it pretty with flowers – for all of us.”

The CONTEMPO Group of Companies, including CONTEMPO Events Design, Flowers by CONTEMPO, and Flowers by CONTEMPO DIFC, have been designing events and florals for most of Dubai’s leading companies and hotels since 1997. Bijoe George, partner and Corporate Sales Manager added, “We have many clients in DIFC and our new shop will serve as our flagship location. It’s the right place to be and we are committed to serving our clients with only the best designs, best flowers, and best service. This is the best place to carry out our mission.”