Michele Morris (left) and Beth Huber recently transformed the iconic Clark Gas Station by expanding Plaza Petals, the flower shop Morris founded in 2019. Between making florals for baby showers, birthday parties and bridal events, as well as running the storefront with a selection of flower arrangements, Morris and Huber have their hands full managing a thriving floral business.

- - - -

Plaza Petals

Plaza Petals is now blooming in the historic Clark Gas Station on South Main Street.  Founded by Michele Morris in 2019, the full-service floral shop expanded to a new storefront in February that sells flowers, plants and other locally made crafts, bringing new life to a local landmark.

For the past five years, Morris has been selling flowers and plants from her 1970s Volkswagen bus in the Plaza.  When her friend Beth Huber reached out to her with an idea to partner and open a new storefront together, Morris jumped on the idea for the next chapter of her work.

Plaza Petals is a full-service florist and plant shop that sells arrangements both in the brick-and-mortar storefront and online.  Customers will find beautiful curated arrangements or can customize designs themselves and order via pickup or local delivery.  The store also offers a flower subscription service for businesses and individual customers to schedule flower deliveries on a recurring basis.

The store also has handcrafted products from local businesses, including clothing and greeting cards.  “We partner with women-owned businesses and other small, local shops because we want to support each other and continue to build a sense of community here,” says Huber.

With Plaza Petals, Huber and Morris saw a chance to differentiate themselves from big-name stores.

“We have a huge variety of plants that you’re not going to find at stores like Home Depot,” says Huber.  “It feels extremely quaint and the building complements it all.”

Plaza Petals is taking up shop in the historic Clark Gas Station, a landmark in Orange since the 1920s.  When Huber and Michele saw the building was available for lease, they jumped on the opportunity to establish a new, creative shop for the community.

“We love the history behind the building,” says Morris.  “We have a lot of customers come by just to check out the space and tell us stories and show photos of the gas station.”

The friends-turned-business-owners duo also has a second site that they use to create their arrangements and plan to expand the use of the space to host floral classes and workshops.

“We would love to partner with a school as well and host workshops for kids,” says Morris, whose husband works in education and sees a natural partnership between the shop and schools.  “Having holiday-themed workshops, like wreath-making around Christmas time, is a goal for us this year.”

Plaza Petals
305 South Main St., Orange CA 92868  /  714-732-0774