​The rock flower shop "in bloom", which Life Designs interviewed in 2018, opened a flower truck that can be sold on the move in conjunction with "Good Couple's Day" on November 22nd. The Flower Truck plans to sell flowers and plants at various places such as events, medical facilities, kindergartens, etc., so I heard the details.

Also, the look and feel of the store has changed drastically since our last article, and there have been many changes. Let me introduce you to "in bloom," which continues to evolve!

Mr. Hayato Kanno, who cooperated in the interview

I'm pleased to have the owner of "in bloom," Mr. Hayato Kanno, cooperate with our interview again. He is looking great in rock fashion!

With the theme of "traveling flower shop",
A flower truck that delivers flowers everywhere

Flower Truck, which opened on November 22, 2021, has an impressive design with a rock look that doesn't look like a florist.

-Tell us how you came up with the idea for the Flower Track.

Mr. Kanno: "From the beginning, I didn't want to make a flower truck, but I happened to see a kitchen car at an event that looked really cool, and I thought it was a great idea. It didn't look like a "kitchen car" at all, but rather a very stylish design. I was introduced to the company that made the truck, but nothing much happened after that."

-When did the flower truck project start?

Mr. Kanno: "It was not until this year that we actually started taking actions. Last year, due to the new coronavirus, sales declined during the farewell and entrance/graduation ceremony seasons, but during the stay-home period, retail sales were surprisingly good because more people decorated their rooms with flowers, and at that time I thought about what I wanted to do next. I had no intention of relocating or opening a second store, so I figured it would be more fun to build a truck and sell flowers where I went, and that's when the designing began to progress."

Completed flower truck

-Where will the Flower Truck go?

Mr. Kanno: "I would like to distribute flowers to people in nursing care facilities and hospitals, or hold flower arrangement classes at kindergartens for children to choose flowers. The strength of trucks is that they are mobile, so I think it is important to be able to move around to help people who are not familiar with flowers or who cannot come to flower shops. I also want to go to events like I have in the past, and I want to go to Fuji Rock Festivals (laughs)."

-It is a design that does not feel out of place even at the festival venue! But rock fans will be surprised if they find out about the flower shop.

Mr. Kanno: "That's right (laughs). We have also received inquiries from various places asking us to come. However, since we also have our own store, the trucks will mainly be available on holidays, and we have not yet decided on the details of the operation format, so we will have to work on the details from now on."

-Will the truck also sell fresh flowers?

Mr. Kanno: “Yes. Until now, we hadn’t been able to use water, so most of the products we could sell were dried flowers. Now I can also handle fresh flowers.It is also possible to make a bouquet according to the image of the customer. I am looking forward to it because it will look gorgeous with fresh flowers at the event, and it is an attempt that other flower shops cannot do."

The Flower Truck was unveiled for the first time at the Nagoya Antique Market!

"in bloom" flower truck at the Nagoya Antique Market

The “in bloom” flower truck was unveiled for the first time at the Nagoya Antique Market held at Higashibetsuin on November 20th (Sat) and 21st (Sun). On the day of the event, in addition to Christmas-themed ornaments and New Year's ceremonial straw ropes, dried flowers and colorful fresh flowers were lined up, and it was crowded with many people.

Sell fresh flowers in the truck

You can freely see inside the track

The people who gather in front of the truck are of various ages and genders. Many men bought flowers and plants of their favorite color for themselves.

Future plans for the flower truck will be posted on Instagram or the store's official website. If you are interested, please check it out!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inbloom_flowers_rocknroll/

Shop extensions, beekeeping, even homemade drinks! ?
In bloom continues to evolve.

Inside in bloom

We interviewed " in bloom" three years ago. Has anything changed since then?

Mr. Kanno: "It's all about the changes. First of all, the size of the store has doubled. Before, it was not immediately obvious from the outside that we were a flower shop, but we improved that first, and we also added a room dedicated to dried flowers and a room dedicated to fresh flowers. Then we also added a kitchen where we make takeout-only drinks."

A room lined with bright fresh flowers. Filled with good fragrance.

A room dedicated to dried flowers.

No matter where you look, the space filled with dried flowers is a masterpiece!

-It's like a different store!

Mr. Kanno: "That's right. The number of customers increased, so we made the store larger. As the number of customers increased, so did the number of things I wanted to do. ...... It's in my nature to take action as soon as I get interested."

-I understand that you have started offering take-out drinks, what kind of menu do you have?

Mr. Kanno: "We have shaved ice, smoothies, coffee, lemonade with homemade honey, etc. You can also have drinks in the corner outside the shop."

in bloom cafe menu

-Everything looks delicious! ……Did you just say homemade honey?

Mr. Kanno: "Actually, I've been keeping Japanese honeybees on the roof of my company since 2019."

I see that you have "home-made honey" on your menu. Why did you start beekeeping?

Mr. Kanno: "The reason I started beekeeping was because I found out on SNS that a member of a band I like had started beekeeping. I was interested and looked up the term 'weekend beekeeping,' and I thought that I could start beekeeping myself. It seems that some beekeepers are doing beekeeping on the rooftops of buildings in central city, such as Ginza and Nishiki. So I set up a hive on the roof of my company with orchids, which are said to attract Japanese honeybees, and the bees really came (laughs).

- Isn't it difficult to take care of bees in beekeeping?

Mr. : "For Japanese honeybees, we don't do anything special. We only provide them with a place to live and prepare their environment so that they feel comfortable. If we take care of them this way and that, it will cause them stress. Western honeybees are susceptible to pests and are hard to care for, but Japanese honeybees are not.

-How much honey can you get?

Mr. Kanno: "Japanese honeybees only produce honey once or twice a year, so last year we got about 4 kilograms. Compared to Western honeybees, which produce about 50 kilograms of honey a year, Japanese honeybees' honey is much rarer.

-It would be nice to be able to enjoy it with lemonade!

Ms. Kanno: "That's right. We also make small bottles of honey and hand cream. In particular, I think hand creams made with beeswax from Japanese honeybees are quite rare, as not many people make them. These are available in limited quantities, but we plan to sell them at events as well."

Natural Japanese bee honey collected at a flower shop

-I was amazed at the numerous changes over the past three years! Why do you keep changing so much?

Mr. Kanno: "In my case, I don't have a particularly clear vision or act with a business mindset, but it often starts with an interest. Flower trucks, take-out juice, honey, it's all the same. I want to do everything that interests me. However, while we do many things, our goal is to 'convey the charm of flowers and plants. So I want to use what I started out as a means to an end, out of interest, to lower the hurdles to incorporating flowers into our lives as much as possible."

-Do you have a future vision for “in bloom”?

Mr. Kanno: "Well, ......, nothing in particular (laughs). But I think we will continue to change like we have been doing. While intertwining my interests with flowers. I am grateful for the staff who help me without complaining, and I realize that many people, including myself, like the atmosphere of "in bloom" and come to visit. So I hope we can continue to keep our own style going in the future."

-Thank you, Mr. Kanno, for your kind words!

Ever-evolving rock flower shop “in bloom”
Check future developments

"in bloom", located in Nishi Ward, Nagoya City, is a rock flower shop where 40% of its customers are men. The owner, Mr. Kanno, has a wonderful personality, and some people come to the shop to talk about his hobbies.

The custom of giving flowers may not yet be very familiar in Japan. However, I would be happy to receive flowers myself, and having plants in my room makes me feel kind.

It seems that the "in bloom" flower track is planning to participate in future events, so why not check it out?

A painting on the outer wall of the office next to the store

Inside the store and on the exterior walls of the office, Mr. Kanno's own "kanxie" (?) works of art are scattered about. Please look for them when you visit the store.