A mother-daughter duo is bringing back personalized service and old-school customer service to downtown Renton.

Toni Nelson and daughter Roxanne Hanson are reviving Renton Flower Shop at its new location, 323 Main Ave., in downtown Renton.

Gone for 11 years from the business, Nelson and Hanson will open April 16 and hold an open house with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 19.

Nelson worked at and later managed Renton Flower Shop for 43 years before she sold it in 2001.

Since then, every spring Nelson and Hanson said they were tempted to open up a shop again.

When the awning went up on what used to be a commercial laundry facility, their present location, they discovered the perfect spot to draw them back downtown.

“This time around we are just basically in business to design, have fun, see the customers again and hopefully people will stop in again and have a cup of coffee,” said Hanson. “It’s going to go back to being a gathering place.”

Back in the day, the shop used to be known informally by loyal customers as Toni’s Floral Shop.

Before it was officially Nelson’s, the shop was founded by the Pratt family sometime in the late 1930s, according to Nelson.

Ron Pratt took it over when he came back from World War II in the mid-1940s. Nelson went to work for Pratt in 1958.

Over the years the floral business has changed with the addition of grocery stores and funeral homes getting into the business in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

“What I remember most as well is that the customers became more astute to what flowers were,” said Hanson about that time.

She was intrigued by the opportunity to do contemporary, high-style, tropical arrangements for example.

“That really excited me and that’s when I started designing,” Hanson said.

Renton Flower Shop has always been pretty much a high volume shop, according to Nelson.

They ran into trouble when they found it difficult to hire other designers for their shop.

So Nelson sold the business and she and Hanson kept a few clients.

One of those clients is Emerald Downs. Nelson has done the Longacres Mile horse blankets of flowers for about 20 years. Hanson has done all of Emerald Downs large arrangements and centerpieces.

The two are very well-known and connected in the community.

Nelson served on Renton City Council for 20 years. She’s also worked with the Chamber of Commerce and various city committees.

Hanson was Freddie’s Club and Diamond Lil’s casino’s community and government relations person.

She’s also won awards from the City of Renton for her community service.

Hanson is the chair of the Friends of Renton High School.

“This was always the community place,” said Hanson. “And that’s what I think we’ll be again, however we just won’t be on all the committees and things that we were on 10 years ago.”

Renton Flower Shop will forgo wire order services to concentrate on their local customers.

“Floral design for me, yes, it is a passion,” said Hanson. “But, I’m not a cookie-cutter designer. I’m not going to make the arrangements that you see on every website.”

Hanson boasts clients will be able to send five arrangements to their significant others in one week and never give the same one.

“So why do we want to work for ourselves again?” Hanson said. “Because working for ourselves we can do what we want to do. I can design what I want to design or what the client and I decide to design.”