Homemade mobile flower cart to offer build-your-own bouquets at Ocala Downtown Market

A flower cart might sound like something pushed around by an old-fashioned peddler, or perhaps featured in a Hallmark Channel movie or seen on a boardwalk in a hip California city, selling bouquets of daisies or carnations to passersby.  

The Ocala Downtown Market, however, will soon become another place you can expect to see the unique type of business, as Eufloria Flower Cart will be rolling around town to offer build-your-own bouquets starting June 26. 

Krista Ingrilli, who is a director of sales for HDG Hotels by day, is the owner and head florist for Eufloria by night and weekend. With her boyfriend, Delfino Garza, and cat Primrose at her side, Ingrilli is making her vision a reality just a few months after the idea was conceived in March and hopes to spread joy to Marion County residents. 

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Drawing inspiration from family and startup culture

Ingrilli has no formal training as a florist but did work at a flower shop in St. Augustine while studying business at Flagler College. Most of her inspiration and love for flowers comes from her family, though. 

"My mom and my grandmother are avid gardeners,” Ingrilli said. “My mom and I, we work on the garden together. My late grandmother, she was a big inspiration to want to do this. She had a passion for flowers.” 

Ingrilli also gives credit to the “entrepreneurial spirit” of St. Augustine and the startup business culture in Los Angeles, where she lived for two years, as well as a flower cart she saw at an event in Tampa. 

“I feel like Ocala can be a place that really could support this kind of business with the entrepreneurial breeding ground that it's become,” she said. 

Just as Ingrilli has no formal training as a florist, Garza, a parole officer by day, has no formal training as a carpenter, but that didn’t keep him from offering to build the cart for his girlfriend to help her realize a dream. 

“I'm the dreamer. He's the floral engineer,” Ingrilli said, calling Garza the "mastermind" behind the cart. “He’s so smart. He sees things and he's like, ‘I can build that,’ and he just learns by doing.” 

Seeing the vision come to life

Garza has designed and built the cart from the ground up — wood, wheels and all — though he dislikes painting and leaves that to Ingrilli.  

“Everything was in my head,” he said, as flower carts aren’t readily available for purchase and blueprints aren’t easy to come by, either. 

The cart is designed for customers to have a personalized experience building their own bouquets, though pre-made bouquets will also be available. Buckets on one side will hold different types of flowers for customers to pick by the stem. Ingrilli will put the bouquets together and wrap them at her workstation on the other end.

Garza still has to put shiplap siding around the cart, concealing storage underneath, and install a holder for a large white scalloped umbrella to give the flowers shade. They just purchased ramps to roll the cart into Garza’s truck for transport, and a final touch will be a mural with Eufloria’s name on the side of the cart. 

The couple works on the business on weekends and after work each day under the supervision of Ingrilli’s cat, Primrose. She is Eufloria’s unofficial mascot who keeps the geckos at bay and serves as an “in-house structural engineer,” per one of Eufloria’s Facebook posts. 

“It's been a labor of love for sure,” Ingrilli said. “There's been a lot of hiccups, and something so small, you're like, ‘What can really go wrong?’ But honestly a lot can go wrong.” 

Collaborating with Ocala's local businesses and organizations

With hiccups overcome, though, the cart will be making its debut at the Ocala Downtown Market June 26 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition to the market every Saturday, Ingrilli hopes to partner with local businesses to hold popup events, as well as attend Ocala’s First Friday Art Walks. 

“Mobile businesses are a thing now. You definitely can make it a viable business,” Ingrilli said, pointing to Marion Mobile Bar & Bubbles and mobile spas in Ocala. “Having a brick and mortar is great, but there's something about coming up to a business and there's just a flower cart parked out there that sparks joy, sparks happiness. And being able to take it anywhere, I think that's a big plus.” 

Ingrilli anticipates heavier demand on holidays, especially Mother’s Day, but says people also like to give bouquets to thank others or brighten up houses or office spaces. She is considering setting up a subscription service for such recurring orders. 

Eufloria’s flowers come from a wholesaler in Orlando, where Ingrilli will travel each week to pick them up and ensure quality, or she may have them shipped if her schedule doesn't allow the trip. 

“I like to have a lot of color and just have fun with it, so it's been a good little stress reliever after work,” she said, noting that she’s excited to bring types of flowers not usually found in Ocala. 

Ingrilli has worked with the Hispanic Business Council and Ocala’s existing flower shops, as well as many family members, to establish Eufloria. 

“Businesses have to work together in the same industry. There's enough business to go around,” she said. “Ocala as a community — the small businesses and, now more than ever, everybody — is coming together and really supporting each other and blasting each other on social media.” 

Spreading flower power to Ocala

Though Ingrilli is mostly looking just a few weeks ahead to Eufloria’s opening and assessing the demand, she has thought about the future if the business takes off. 

A bike attachment for the cart has been mentioned, as well as a “flower Jeep” instead of a cart in the long run, where they would outfit a retro Jeep to sell flowers out of the back. 

“There's a lot of different visions I had, so it’s just trying to learn to walk before I run,” Ingrilli said. 

Regardless of what form Eufloria eventually takes, she is just excited to share her creative outlet with the family who has inspired her and the community she hopes to spread joy to. 

“I think beauty in itself will change the world, whether it's through people or things, but I think there's a particular beauty that nature can bring to your life,” she said.

— Contact Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.