House of Lilac Blooms

With the help of a strong foundation that emphasizes faith and education, many Bobcats go on to do amazing things beyond the four walls of Lourdes. Melanie Fernandez, founder of House of Lilac, gave The Grotto insight on why she went on to create a business after graduating in 2004 and how she found success.

A local flower shop with a great personality, House of Lilac is a relatively young business that is committed to your floral and home decor needs. Fresh and dried flowers constitute the bulk of their sales along with other in-store home decor products.

Melanie debuted her business as a gift shop but as demand for flowers increased, the store quickly evolved into a floral shop.

“Personally I’ve always wanted a shop of some sort so I opened a gift shop and everyone started asking for flowers. I told them I didn’t do that,” Melanie Fernandez said. The rest is history.

After leaving her job as a lawyer Fernandez dove into her business and followed her dream.

“I basically saved a lot of money and within the year I had already started what was going to be my business. By the time I left my job as a lawyer I was ready to open [House of Lilac] in 2014,” she said.

As her shop grew, new employees were interviewed and hired to help manage both the online and physical store. Alumnae Cristina Enriquez and Nicole Baboun joined the House of Lilac team so that Fernandez was rest assured that the business could run smoothly in her absence.

Looking into expanding her domain by opening larger stores, Fernandez is now focused on organizing important details to make a safe transition.

“The goal is to put everything on paper so that for whatever reason, I don’t have to be there and everything works. Part of that is so we will be able to expand in the future,” Fernandez said.

Currently, her online shop is available nationwide while she runs her local shop here in Miami. Fernandez didn’t let the COVID Pandemic hinder her revenue.

“When COVID hit, I couldn’t ship out fresh flowers. I had to focus the entire business on dried flowers.”

With this shift in product focus, Melanie was able to market from a different perspective.

“I pivoted the business model and launched dried flowers online and found a whole new revenue stream,” she said.

With most of the public quarantined, many gained interest in revamping their home decor which fell perfectly in line with House of Lilac’s product line leading to her business booming.

Knowing Lourdes is a school that strives to uplift and support student businesses, Melanie wanted to give advice to budding entrepreneurs.

“Get any business degree. But, my more important advice is to not think it’s a straight line to your goal. You don’t have to have it figured out. Start somewhere and gain the tools to accomplish your next goal,” Fernandez said.

House of Lilac can be found online at Houseoflilac.com and on Instagram with the same handle. They’re store front sits near Tropical Park at 7162 SW 47 Street. Currently, their Holiday home decor product line has launched. Both online and in store there are Holiday dried flowers styled to fit your home. Fresh flowers along with candles and other goods can be found in-store. Make sure to stop by this Holiday season and show support our fellow bobcat.