Black-owned florist brings modern design to South KC scene

Shahidah Salaam did not open her new floral business in South Kansas City just to sell roses or make pretty flower arrangements.For Salaam, the launch of the Pritzy Floral Design Studio at 12127 Blue Ridge Suite F in Grandview is about putting something in place that outlives her. It is a brick-and-mortar statement about ownership, creativity and staying power in an industry where Black business owners, especially on the floral side, have often been underrepresented or overlooked.“This flower shop is really about legacy for me,” said Salaam. “What we leave behind as far as intellectual property, the things that we provide our community, things we provide our family and our children especially.” Shahidah Salaam, owner of Pritzy Floral Design Studio, is introducing a new concept, rental space, and fresh modern floral designs. at her floral studio in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com Salaam’s shop joins a short list of Black-owned floral businesses across the metro. She is intentional about visibility.“I found it necessary to let people know that we are here as a Black woman in business and as a Black florist,” she said.Pritzy Floral also carries a second message: she is not opening a traditional neighborhood florist with a standard walk-in counter and a back room of buckets. She is building a modern design operation that connects to the work she has already been doing in the urban core for years through events, decor and small-business entrepreneurship. A floral arrangement made by owner Shahidah Salaam sits at the entrance of Pritzy Floral Design Studio on in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com In 2019, Salaam stepped away from corporate life and opened her first venue in Grandview, Missouri, launching what she describes as a fast-growing decor and event business. Over the years, the operation expanded into four indiviual venues, including Party House by Life of the Party KC, Elegant Affairs Event Space, the Gallery at 705 in downtown Grandview and an annex space connected to Truman Farms. The floral studio is positioned as the creative hub that supports that ecosystem.“This design studio is really like the nucleus to all of the event spaces that we have,” said Salaam.Salaam said the idea for a dedicated floral studio grew out of necessity. “I found it necessary to let people know that we are here as a Black woman in business and as a Black florist,” said Salaam, owner of Pritzy Floral Design Studio in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com Making space for growthIn September 2025, Salaam was preparing for a gala and ran into a problem familiar to any growing business: space. She was building large designs inside one of her event venues, then clearing them out at the end of the week to make room for renters, moving work into closets, loading arrangements into a garage, and finding temporary storage so nothing would be damaged before the event.“I actually ran out of space to create the designs in,” said Salaam. “I couldn’t leave it in the event space because someone was running the event space that Friday and Saturday, with the gala being on Sunday.”A conversation with her property manager led to a temporary storage space at Truman Farms Corner. That stopgap solution became the seed of a new business. A floral arrangement made by owner Shahidah Salaam sits at the entrance of Pritzy Floral Design Studio on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com That idea evolved into Pritzy Floral Design Studio, a hybrid space Salaam describes as part studio, part cold holding area and part content production room. In addition to taking floral orders online, she built the space with other creatives in mind, including florists who need a professional place to work and film in addition to selling flowers.“Nowadays people want to produce more content to get their business out there online,” said Salaam. “You can come into Pritzy Floral Studio and rent out the content studio for a day, a week, a month or whatever.”For Salaam, it is a business model rooted in how modern consumers discover brands, and how small businesses survive without the budgets of national chains. Her marketing background is central to her approach. In the past several months she has been making connections and hoping to give people a reason to come out south for flowers.Her strategy includes making herself the face of the brand, showing the process behind the arrangements and using visuals to communicate what makes her work different. Though this new stage has required her to master new areas of business and content creation, she is excited to become one of few Black faces at the helm of a flower business.“I’m letting people know through social media, through websites, through the content that we produce, that we’re here and we’re ready to make a mark on this industry,” she said. Shahidah Salaam, owner of Pritzy Floral Design Studio, holds out a floral arrangement for a portrait at her floral studio in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com How the seed was plantedWhile the studio is a new chapter, florals are not new to her story. Salaam traces her first lessons back to childhood, watching her mother arrange flowers for friends and for the Muslim community. She remembers that when she was a kid her mom had her gathering stems from home gardens and nearby yards, turning what was available into something meaningful.“I grew up doing floral arrangements with her,” she said. “And I always kept that in the back of my mind.”That early influence resurfaced as her event decor business expanded. Clients began asking for centerpieces and custom floral work that matched the scale of weddings, galas and community celebrations. At a certain point, she said, the demand outgrew the venues. A dedicated studio became the next logical step.She credits Johnson County Community College her formal training through their floral design courses. The holding tank area with storage racks and a mural is seen at Pritzy Floral Design Studio on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com The decision to remain in Grandview and South Kansas City was also intentional. Salaam said she has been approached about taking her business closer to downtown, especially with the buzz around the World Cup and increased attention on tourism and development. But she said she is committed to staying where her business has been supported and where she believes the next wave of growth will happen.“We love Grandview,” she said. “The community of Grandview in South Kansas City has been great to us.”She also sees the shop as filling a gap. Grandview, she said, has not had a floral business of this kind, and she points to the disappearance of other Black-owned florists in South Kansas City over time.“As far as South Kansas City, there is no African-American florist here,” said Salaam. “And so I’m here to make my mark in this community in Kansas City, period.”That visibility carries a second purpose: her children. Salaam repeatedly returns to the idea that her shop is a blueprint, proof that ownership is possible.“It’s about creating a legacy for my kids to let them know that there’s no barriers, there’s no boundaries on what you can do,” she said. Pritzy Floral Design Studio at 12127 Blue Ridge Ext. Unit F in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com What’s blooming next?Pritzy Floral Design Studio is also opening into one of the most competitive moments of the year for the industry. Salaam opened her physical location for the floral shop in December, however, the business has been operating since November 2025 taking online orders. Now she is heading into Valentine’s Day with ambition rather than caution.“I’m looking forward to 150 plus clients that weekend,” said Salaam. “We’ve already created a menu. We’ve already put the menu out online and on our social media pages for people to pre-order up until February the 7th.”Her approach to florals is not built around the most traditional expectations, either. Salaam said she believes flower-giving has become less common for everyday occasions, replaced by constant digital communication. But she does not consider it a dying practice, and she is working to make it feel modern again. Shahidah Salaam, owner of Pritzy Floral Design Studio, arranges roses for a bouquet at her studio in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com “I feel like our generation has kind of like lost the art of flower giving over the years,” she said. “So it’s about being innovative and developing new designs.”The shop also reflects Salaam’s own artistic lens. She describes her aesthetic as bold and vibrant, often using texture, spray paint, and tropical elements like monstera (tropical vining plant) leaves. She has a preference for contemporary floral designs such as Ikebana, a centuries-old Japanese floral arranging method focused on simplicity that has become popular in recent years. Shahidah Salaam, owner of Pritzy Floral Design Studio, has one of the few remaining Black-owned floral shops in Grandview. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com The shop’s impact, she hopes, will extend beyond weddings and Valentine’s deliveries. Salaam said she has started relationships with funeral homes and wants to elevate sympathy florals beyond what she calls “mediocre,” treating memorial arrangements as another form of art and care.Her advice to other Black entrepreneurs considering brick-and-mortar ownership.“Don’t stop just because you don’t see another African-American face in the industry,” said Salaam. “Pave the way for the next African-American person to be a part of that industry.”

J.M. Banks

The Kansas City Star

J.M. Banks is The Star’s culture and identity reporter. He grew up in the Kansas City area and has worked in various community-based media outlets such as The Pitch KC and Urban Alchemy Podcast.

Source link