Teenage-run Coquitlam flower shop broken into on first day

A 16-year-old who bought a Coquitlam flower shop has been dealt her first business setback after a break-in on her opening day.

Nicole Doiron developed a passion for plants during the pandemic. So, when the flower shop she was working at went up for sale, she says she bought it with the help of her parents.

“I bought a couple of plants, and then I bought more plants, and before you know it, I had about 50 plants in my room,” she said of the inspiration behind the business.

But on Wednesday’s grand opening of her store, Nicole was dealt her first blow — thieves broke in through the front door, ransacked the shop, stealing an empty cash register and some paperwork before running out the back.

“It was just really upsetting to see that [on the] first day of business that we were going to be open, that this already happened,” Nicole told CityNews.

Susie Doiron, Nicole’s mother, says she feels bad that her daughter has to deal with the crime so early on.

“When it happened, I was really disheartened, I was really sad for her and I said to her ‘it made me lose faith in humanity’,” Susie said.

Susie explains the temporary wooden door cost $650 and estimates the cost of a new door and cash register will set them back a few thousand dollars.

The Coquitlam RCMP tells CityNews it’s investigating.

(CityNews Image)

Community shows support for young storeowner

Despite the rocky start to her shop, Nicole says the community has been helpful.

“We’ve got a lot of messages and comments through Instagram. We also got a couple of calls into the shop and quite a few people have come in, just wanting to shop here, just give us a little hope in society and a lot of the business owners around the area have come in to just check on us,” she said.

“She’s handled this so well and we’re so proud of her,” Susie said of her daughter. “She took it in stride and just kept going.”

The store holds a special place in the hearts of Nicole’s whole family. It’s where her parents got engaged more than 20 years ago when it was an antique consignment shop.

“At the time, my husband loved to collect antiques and I would be looking at the antique Birks ring boxes and one day he brought me in here and he says, ‘You know, why don’t you look at the showcase,’ and there was a ring box in there,” Susie said.

“I looked in it and I said, ‘Oh my god there’s a ring in it,’ and I turned around and my husband was on his knee and he proposed to me. And it was in this store.”

With a bump in the road behind her, Nicole says she’s looking forward to running the business and getting more involved in the community. She calls the break-in a blessing in disguise.

“Well, now we get a new front door and I got to meet so many amazing people, and we’re also getting to start with new businesses ’cause a lot of them reached out, just wanting to work with us,” she said.