FAIT DU SOIR Master artisan florist Sophie Donnat celebrates 30 years in the boutique
On February 20, 1992, Sophie Donnat opened her first boutique at 39, rue de la République in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. She has moved several times since but the reputation of the master artisan florist is second to none. Thirty years later, the “Gavroche de la petal” always follows his desires and never fails to surprise his customers.
This slightly cheeky side, Sophie Donnat has always had it and does not hide it. After 43 years as a florist, she can afford it. Already small, she liked scratch the ground“. Not really academic, she left school at the age of 15 and found her vocation by chance along the streets of Avignon. She goes on trial in the flower trade. She will be employed there for twelve years.
One day, she decides to stand on her own two feet and opens her business in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. She stayed there for nine years: I made the Revolution there, I did workshops, exhibitions of painters…“, she recalls. Dare is his motto. She does not hesitate to completely cover her window with red fabric. In 1995, she took part in the French florist’s cup and finished 4th out of 165 competitors. Following which, she joined the group of the 20 best florists in France and organized shows and parades of “flower women”. In the 90s, she also launched into fruit-vegetable and flower compositions, ” which did not exist at all. »
She still participates in floral events. In 1998, she completely furnished the Saint-Jean cloister in Villeneuve: “ I always like to go beyond the flower, to stage it to give it all its letters of nobility“, comments Sophie Donnat. This period in the city center will be rich, but will end in 1998, in particular because the municipality decides to change the direction of the rue de la République causing the shopkeeper to lose a whole part of her clientele.
Showcases and ever more innovative decorations
She then moved to the heights of Villeneuve-lez-Avignon and stayed there until 2014. The atmosphere is different but we find the original touch of Sophie Donnat, always more innovative when it comes to decorating her window. At the entrance, she arranges pallets and crates, inside, she creates a small upside-down world: “ I am made by Mary Poppins. Everything was on the ceiling and my chair served as a lamp. Even the tree was upside down. I made an impression, I like to stand out that way. We also owe him fantasies such as the bouquet-grid, mounted like an evolving painting according to the foliage, or even bouquets half dried flowers, half fresh flowers.
Hyperactive, Sophie Donnat took care of the Vaucluse florists’ union at the same time, relaunched the Villeneuve merchants’ association, set up another association next door… In 2020, she should have taken part in the Alterarosa event at the Palais of the popes of Avignon, which was finally canceled because of the covid-19. ” I had to make a scenography around the rosebush of lost times. There would have been a whole route with entertainment, a structure extending over the entire back of the conclave hall, a parade of flower women, a competition for flowery bicycles… We had seen things in a big way“, she regrets. She hopes that the event can be held in 2023 and that she will again be chosen to participate.
In 2016, Sophie Donnat moved for the third time to a new boutique at 2, rue du Grand Montagne in Les Angles this time. She is still there today. 2016 is also the year she was elected to the Gard CCI on Éric Giraudier’s list, from which she quickly separated. She led this 2021 campaign alongside candidate Philippe Broche. During this period, she also tried to sell flowers by webcam or to set up a directory of all the florists in France “To each his own flowers”.
“I liked fighting for others, finding solutions…”
” I always try to find projects for the store, to get involved in the economic, political worldsays Sophie Donnat. I realized that we had an important voice within a municipality, it must be used to avoid problematic problems. I really liked fighting for others, finding solutions… I know how to find the flowers that each client needs, just as I know how to identify everyone’s needs.. Also in 2016, the shopkeeper obtained her title of “master artisan florist” at the Gard Chamber of Trades and Crafts. His daughter is in the process of taking this diploma to take over the shop in a few years.
The little doorbell of the tinted store. A customer arrives and asks for four roses for his sweetheart. ” Does the number have a meaning?“Asks Sophie Donnat. The customer answers in the affirmative. She gives him some advice, in particular to recover the stems frankly before plunging the flowers into the water. Important step to prevent the petals from fading prematurely. ” It is often the simplest compositions that have the most success. When people give bouquets, they smoke things to heart. They are afraid of the too modern, too provocative“, remarks the florist.
Despite everything, she tries to distinguish herself, to assert herself as a floral artist with different skills: “ Each florist has his paw. My trademark since the 90s is the rafia. Over the years, the number of visitors to the store has not dropped. After the hard blow of the first confinement, Sophie Donnat found her clientele at the same level. Last summer was particularly full to honor all the wedding decorations. But the rise in prices worries him: When there is inflation, florists are among the first to be sacrificed… »
Mary Meunier
In this year of the 30th anniversary of the shop, Sophie Donnat offers her customers small gifts with each purchase (magnetic notepads to stick on the fridge or stabilized vegetable board).
Sophie Donnat master craftsman florist, 2, rue du Grand Montagne in Les Angles. More info on 04 90 25 09 58.