Florists say they've been subjected to 'unfair criticism'

The owners of a local flower shop who vacated their Regent Street storefront Feb. 21 — creating a panic among brides and grooms — have posted a message to their customers on the store's Facebook page.

Urban Floral Designs, which shut down its Facebook page in the aftermath of the move, posted the following statement March 5:

“We are re-opening this page as a communication with our brides. If at any time we feel that there is abuse or harassment, we will shut it down immediately, since we have been subjected to unfair criticism, deception and lies since we were forced to leave our previous location very abruptly on February 21st.

“There is a lot of false information floating around about us and not only is it hurtful, but completely untrue. We will not even begin to touch on the information out there, all I have to say is that some of you should be so very ashamed of yourselves for putting info out that has no merit, you do not even know how this has affected us. For the brides that have been understanding, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

“We were instructed to keep mum but can now give some information. To briefly clear up matters, our storefront is closed, but our business continues on. We have the right to run a business from any location and never did we say that we would not be doing weddings.

“We apologize for the brides that jumped the gun and went crazy over news of the 'apparent closing', but we do not need to advise on every business move that we make. (especially when the move comes as fast to us as it does to you). If given the chance, without the drama, forums, news articles and radio interviews, we could have released something much sooner (the next day this was already so out of control and out of our hands).”