Shelby’s Floral has for decades had a Clearwater Avenue address – from its debut in 1977 in the now-defunct Bramble Bush Mall to its current home in Marineland Plaza.

And that’s not going to change now that owner Jackie Brown is building a new home for the beloved flower shop. Shelby’s Floral is relocating down the street to 6018 W. Clearwater Ave., Kennewick.

Construction is scheduled to start at the end of October.

Brown hopes to move into the new location by next August.

Until then, the existing store will remain open at its current home at 5211 W. Clearwater Ave., Suite A.

“It’s been a long haul. We’ll be very happy when we see (the new building),” Brown said.

Shelby’s Floral has been in Marineland Plaza for 23 years. Brown didn’t have plans to move but wasn’t given the option to extend beyond her most recent two-year lease, she said.

So, she decided to build. The new facility will be 6,100 square feet, with room on the roughly 1.5-acre lot to add another 3,800 square feet at some point in the future to rent out, Brown said.

“It’s a big space, so we’re going to put it to as best use as we can,” she said.

The land cost $1 million and the building cost is about $1.8 million.

Hummel Construction and Development is the general contractor.

Brown said she loves the flower business. She can’t imagine doing anything else.

“Every day is different. We get to use our artistic side. We help people. We get many, many smiles. It’s a business I’ve been in since I was 14. I don’t really know any other business,” she said.

When Brown was a teen, her aunt worked in a flower shop in Pasco.

“My mom would drop me off and I’d work for free. Then I’d get 50 cents an hour and thought I was really doing good,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve stayed in the business the whole time.”

Brown named Shelby’s Floral after her oldest daughter. 

She’s also mom to daughters Lindsey, Kasey and Cortney. Lindsey and Cortney both have joined her in Shelby’s Floral – Lindsey as manager and Cortney as bookkeeper.

Lindsey, whose last name is Meagher, said she’s proud of all her mother has accomplished, noting that Brown started Shelby’s Floral on her own with $500 and a refrigerator.

“She’s worked hard and is successful enough that she gets to own her own building and not pay rent to anyone,” Meagher said, noting that business may expand into more gift items in the new building.

Like her mother, Meagher finds meaning in the work.

“We really do get to share in everyone’s life experiences, from their happy moments to their sad moments,” she said. “We’re there for their prom, for their wedding, for their birthdays, for their anniversaries, for their family funerals. We really see people through a lot of life’s moments.”

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Shelby’s Floral shop is set for Oct. 19.