I made an impulsive decision while walking through Liverpool city centre

Arta's Flowers owner Arta Llabjani and florist Abbie Phillps at the newly-opened shop in Exchange Flags, Liverpool
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


A woman who quit her London finance job for a green-fingered life surrounded by fragrant flowers has embarked on a new mission to bring fresh foliage to Liverpool city centre.

Arta's Flowers, named after owner Arta Llabjani, opened its doors in on Lark Lane in September 2021. Now Arta has expanded her small business into the heart of Liverpool's corporate world, opening her second shop in the famous Exchange Flags, off Tithebarn Street.

She said: "Most of the time when people come in, it's for a happy occasion, so there's always something to celebrate. That's always my favourite thing. People always ask me what flowers I like, and it's always hard to pick just one because there's so many.

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"When the flowers come in, it's like I talk to them and say 'how beautiful are you!' We like to supply seasonal flowers in the shop - so we don't do sunflowers in winter time - because we're trying to be more eco-friendly in that sense. Ranunculus is one of our most popular flowers, as is tulips. Summer time peonies are very popular. Even eucalyptus and foliage."

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Arta, 38, cultivated her passion for flowers while working in finance. After visiting her partner in Liverpool and falling in love with Lark Lane, she took the bold decision to quit her capital city job and make a fresh start, making her dreams of owning her own flower shop a reality.

After three successful years, the plan to expand Arta's Flowers began in early 2024 when a tailor shop in Exchange Flags was advertised to let.

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Arta said: "I was just walking by when I saw it and I thought it was beautiful. There was a sign saying to let and I called them right away. Before I knew it they called me back and said 'you would be an amazing attraction for the business district', because there isn't a flower shop around here, and they wanted to support something independent as well.

"Being a small shop, I have been doing most of the setting up myself. I'm a bit impulsive like that. If I see a good opportunity, I just go for it. It's definitely very exciting. We have been saying how lovely everybody has been.

"We've had great footfall. Castle Street has a lot of restaurants, so we've had a lot of business owners coming into see us. We've even had them send bottles of alcohol for us to celebrate.

"It has been quite hard setting everything up. It's not been easy. I'd love to have loads of people helping me out, but as we're a small business we have a small team of people. But I'm quite excited; I think it's a lovely location.

She added: "I'm still very much proud of the Lark Lane shop. Lark Lane is something I would never let go because it's a very lovely community and I live there. But I wanted to bring more independent shops in the town."