the past

Soul Flower was founded in 1999 by Mike and Peggy as a way to promote a bohemian, eco-friendly, and peaceful lifestyle. Our little shop on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota was a gathering place for college students and locals looking for cool goods with a hippie flair. Add some vending at local events and festivals and Soul Flower quickly grew as a local shop. Since those days, we have made a few changes... we no longer have a retail store (miss you MacGrove 'hood), but do have a mail order catalog, a digital catalog, and this online shop. One thing that hasn't changed is our dedication to bringing our customers unique clothing styles and goods that help them to express who they are in a way that is positive, fun, and affordable.
 

the present

Soul Flower is now an online boutique offering the coolest of threads to the kindest of heads. We are still physically located in Golden Valley, MN and in Des Moines, IA. But Soul Flower is virtually everywhere! And although we no longer have a physical store, we have tried to create an inviting & simple online shopping experience where you can feel the soulful vibe.

Over the years we've had many buds who have been part of the Soul Flower family, and we're thankful to everyone for making it a memorable experience. Check out our four-part blog series to take a tour of the warehouse and meet the folks who make it happen today:

• Chad - Director of Corporate Optimization - from overseeing the day to day happenings at the warehouse to adding the latest bells and whistles to the website, Chad can do it all. He keeps things loose, fun, and productive all at the same time.
• Jennifer - Sculptor of Shadow & Light - When she's not busy shooting the latest product, you can find her working with our wholesale clients and customers to get things just right . Honest, Positive, Peaceful - Jenn is the essence of Soul Flower.
• Joe - Principal Smile Procurement Agent - every company needs a Joe; whether you're a customer or a vendor, Joe keeps things moving forward in a smooth and positive way. FYI - we've been told that Joe gives some of the best customer service out there
• Leiah - Pixologist - Leiah is so busy coming up with design ideas for the website, Facebook, Blog contests, t-shirts, etc. that we are pretty sure she has given up sleep to make room for everything else! She's all about the details, and we're definitely going to be better off with her on board.
• Brianna - Selling Scientist - Bri deals with the science of shopping Soul Flower - she knows marketing like nobody's business! Bri knows when to share the right things with the right people - which is awesome because we always have a lot to share with our buds!
• Jacqueline - Daydreamer - naming our latest products, writing up creative product descriptions, blogging & social media. Basically, she sits at her computer all misty eyed the majority of the day and the results are pretty phenomenal. If you ever read something you love, or have an idea of what you'd like to read, let her know!
• Lindsay, Erich, Karly & Maddie - Packaging Rock Stars - Putting Soulful vibes into every package, these folks are an incredible pick and pack team. Tireless, exact, and keeping the packaging to a minimum, they provide the final touch (and sometimes a fun surprise) to every package. You ROCK!
• Peggy - Karma Captain- leading the karma krewe, creating the latest clothing designs, working on the next catalog issue, and keeping a watchful eye out for the next "must have" products, Peggy is the Soul in Soul-flower!
• Mike - The X Factor - Mike is the one with all the ideas, but no way to execute them! Thankfully, he has the rest of us to rely on. The X factor title is perfect - we're never sure what he's up to, but we know he has our best interest (and yours) in mind.

ongoing

We do our very best to give back and keep the positive vibes going. Each year, we donate to a number of organizations (local, national, and universal) that help to make this world a better place. In 2012, we focused on these organizations --

• We continue our efforts with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant three trees for every one that is used in our catalog production. We helped with an amazing project to plant 125,000 total longleaf pine trees in the Manchester State Forest in South Carolina. Read all about it here.
• Soul Flower contributes to the Greater Des Moines Music Coalition.
• We continue our support of Second Harvest Heartland.
• We support Carbonfund.org in helping to offset Soul Flower's carbon footprint; and we continue to expand our green practices as a company.
• We are working with the Conservation Corps - providing hands-on stewardship & teaching environmental conservation to young adults in Iowa and Minnesota.
  
• We helped Vega Productions to build an instument library for local schools.
  
• We supported Animal Rescue League in their efforts to find every needy animal a loving home.
  

the future

Being eco-friendly is something we strive for in all aspects of our business, and beginning in 2012 we are switching our catalog production to Brown Printing out of Waseca, MN. They won us over with their eco-conscious way of doing business. They recently attained 0% waste tolerance, an unbelievable accomplishment for a printing manufacturer!

Also, we are switching to a 90% recycled paper. It may not be as pretty as the paper we've used in the past, but we (and you) can take heart in knowing that the fewest trees as possible were cut down to make the Soul Flower catalog. We'll still make our donations to the Arbor Day Foundation, but instead of a 3 to 1 ratio, it will be more like a 50 to 1 ratio of trees planted to trees taken!

We love to hear from our customers, so feel free to drop us a line via email, snail mail, phone, facebook, twitter, or leave a comment on our blog. It can be a tough act - personalizing the internet - but we believe the littlest things make a big difference. A thoughtful product (from concept to existence), a pleasant phone call, an extra note (and occasional random gift) in your package, a thank you to our customers. Our company has always been defined by the Golden Rule - treat others as you would like to be treated and everything else will be fine. So, when you're happy, we're happy.

Cheers to Learning, Loving and Growing. Peace!