An Ace Place: Bloom, by Place

Bloom, by Place—a sister concept to Place, A Design Atelier by Philpotts—reinvents the traditional floral shop.

A chance meeting at a local nursery between interior designer Marion Philpotts-Miller and floral artist Debbi Barrett-Holt resulted in one of Hawai‘i’s most interesting endeavors. Using an art gallery approach to floral design, bloom, by Place opened this summer and has blossomed organically, bringing a robust business thanks to good old-fashioned word-of-mouth and social media. The boutique offers clients an opportunity to get creative with access to haku lei, planted botanicals, custom arrangements, commercial accounts and event florals. There are even plans to expand its efforts to create workshops and collaborations with other floral designers and lei makers.

Philpotts-Miller says, “COVID-19 forced us to be more disciplined, and more thoughtful in our approach to floral business and thrifty with our expense priorities. We did most of our improvements ourselves, and with the generous help of trade specialists, we created a very unique garden floral gallery. This was the result of the community shelter-in-place order, where so many of us found solace in the garden, rediscovering nature’s gifts of beauty, peace and a promise of better things to come.” By offering the best of nature by supporting and giving acknowledgment to local growers for their efforts, bloom, by Place has planted roots for great things to come. 40 S. School St., #120