Norwood Walker 
By Brynn Gross Photography
Katie Wright Thomas is the first non-Brown family member to own the business located on Chestnut Street in Danville. In October of 1883, when H.W. Brown arrived in Danville, he established a business that would be owned and operated by members of the same family for four generations. But to fully appreciate Katie’s story, a bit of history must be shared – and potential future stories teased.
An English Gardener Arrives and Creates a Family Business
H.W. Brown, a most interesting story in himself, had established the first florist in Danville in 1883, which he ran with the help of his wife and children from the basement of their home on Green Street. He had greenhouses built on their property and grew his flowers. By 1925, with the business continuing to grow and the aging of his parents, his son Sam had a structure built on Chestnut Street to house the business. There was a preparation space in the basement and the upper floor served as a retail shop. Sam contacted Lord and Burnham — the company that had constructed the greenhouses at both Biltmore House for the Vanderbilts and Reynolda House for the Reynoldses — to construct a two-story greenhouse attached to the house. This greenhouse was in use until the early 2000s. It is thought to be one of only two such structures of this kind left, making it historically significant.
With the passing of H.W. Brown in 1934, sons Sam and Dudley and daughters Violet and Myrtle continued the business at 431 Chestnut Street. In 1946, Mr. Brown’s grandson, Thomas Shadrick joined his aunts and uncles in the business. Having grown up with Grandpa Brown and helping at the store, he knew at 14 that he wanted this as his life’s work. Upon his return from the service in 1946, he officially became part of the business. In 1956, Thomas and his wife Myrtle bought the business.
When their son Terry graduated from college, he began to work alongside his parents and did so until his mother died and his father retired. Having put in over 40 years in the business, he began pondering his own retirement. But what was going to happen to a business run by the same family for almost 140 years? Terry knew that he did not want H.W. Brown Florist to come to an end on his watch. His wife asked, “Do you think somebody is just going to walk in off the street and offer to buy the business?” and encouraged him to put ads in the trade magazines. Terry procrastinated and never placed the ads.
Katie’s Floral Business Starts to Take Root
“Flowers have always been an essential part of my life. It is hard for me to remember any time that we did not have fresh flowers in the house.” These were pretty much the first words I remember Katie saying to me as we began to talk on my first visit to 431 Chestnut Street. Her mother was an avid gardener, and her grandparents owned a farm in the Shenandoah Valley and grew flowers as well. She remembers a childhood filled with fresh flowers and flower arrangements. But flowers had faded a bit from Katie’s life after graduating from Sweet Briar College with a degree in creative writing/English.
She worked in a public relations firm in Alexandria and found she enjoyed planning successful large-scale events in the Washington, D.C. area. In 2015, she and her family moved to Danville where her husband worked in hospital administration. Katie was asked to join the Gabriella Garden Club, which she now serves as president. Flowers were again becoming part of her life as she created arrangements for charitable events in the Danville area.
It was at one such event that her friend Tiffany Franks asked her who had made the flower arrangements. “Oh, Tiffany, it was me,” was her unassuming reply. Turns out Tiffany Franks was – and still is – president of Averett University and had an upcoming event scheduled and wanted Katie to provide the floral arrangements. That event led to her providing flowers for Averett’s events the rest of the year.
As Katie was used to foraging for flowers for her arrangements from her garden and other friends’ gardens, her response was “Oh Tiffany, I couldn’t! I don’t even have a business license to buy wholesale flowers.” Dr. Franks replied, “Well, you had better get one because you were made to do this.” After a search on the internet about how to get a business license in the state of Virginia, KatieDid Florals was born. Working out of a studio floral shop in her home and now able to buy wholesale flowers, Katie was able to provide arrangements for each of the 20 events for Averett. She began to do a few weddings as well and continued to provide for Averett’s events.
KatieDid Florals Grows in North Carolina
When she and her family left Danville for a job opportunity in Sanford, NC, Katie continued to work out of her home studio creating arrangements for weddings and other special life events and occasions. Soon her reputation was growing, and she was providing floral arrangements for weddings throughout the area including the Triangle and Triad. She attracted attention in the wedding trade magazines and received positive reviews. She had fully returned to the world of flowers and discovered her true passion for floral design and helping others realize their dreams for those special life moments.
A Thriving Business but No Space
A few years later, realizing how much she loved and missed living in Danville, Katie insisted that she and her family move back. But Katie had a problem. The new home had no space for a design studio.
Enter Nan Freed. She was friends with both Katie and Terry Shadrick. She told Terry about Katie’s situation, and explained Terry’s situation to Katie. The only path Terry was seeing for the business was to liquidate the assets and sell the business, which he did not want to do. He planned to hold on for maybe five more years. But then Katie walked in off the street, with a little encouragement from Nan.
The Perfect Floral Business Arrangement
According to Terry, it was a “no-brainer.” Katie was looking for a space to carry on her business, and Terry was looking towards retirement while keeping the legacy of his great-grandfather moving forward. Terry and Katie quickly fell into a great working situation in that they complemented each other. He knew the local market and the retail side of the business, and Katie had talents in flower design and event planning he didn’t possess. After about a year of renting space in the basement, which is all that Katie ever intended to do, Terry approached and asked if she would like to buy the business, building and all.
He had become greatly impressed with her love of flowers and their power as well as her work ethic. It reminded him of the way his mother Myrtle had run the shop for so many years. Even though Katie had learned a lot about running a retail shop, she still had some reservations and gave it prudent consideration. But in November of 2022, Katie became the new owner – and first owner outside of the Brown family — of the shop at 431 Chestnut Street.
What’s Been Left Out
Katie Wright Thomas has created a network of local, female-owned flower farms from which she sources materials for her floral designs, established connections with growers worldwide to get any flowers her customers may want at any time, partnered with local businesses such as The Holbrook to provide floral services, created a beautiful space for floral arrangement classes, and begun restoration of the Brown Greenhouse.
She is currently serving as president of her garden club, but always puts her children first. Listening to Terry, you might think Katie is channeling his mom in the business.
431 Chestnut Street
Danville, Virginia, 24541
(434) 793-9122
[email protected]
KatieDidFlorals.com
