Authentically Faking It!
Jasmin Linton (She/Her) // Contributor
Alex Baidanuta (She/Her) // Illustrator
Nestled in the charming and cozy Edgemont Village is the family-owned business, Trims. Known for their beautiful artificial flower displays, Trims is deeply embedded in the neighborhood and has been a unique shopping location for locals since the 90s. The Courier spoke with the lovely flower-obsessed owner Marlene who has been in the industry for over 50 years. With experience at every stage in the real and artificial floral industry, she loves her work. “It’s been an amazing journey […] from manufacturing to retailing, all the aspects,” she says, emphasizing the advantage her well-rounded involvement gave her business.
Marlene has been distributing, designing and buying both fresh and artificial flowers for 15 years, passionately stating, “I started my career in the floral design industry a million years ago.” She was inspired to open her own store after seeing the high-quality manufacturing of artificial plants in the early stages of her career. The store’s original goal was to present artificial florals as an art form as opposed to mass-market decoration.
Since its opening, Trims has become a hub for the community, with its comforting, familiar atmosphere inviting customers back for years. “The babies that were coming in strollers are bringing their babies into the store,” Marlene said, talking about the longevity and emotional connection built through decades by investing in the community around them, and connecting with customers over generations. “The business is the community and vice versa,” she states, the two being one in the same in her eyes.
With Edgemont Village’s high percentage of women-owned businesses shaping the culture, it’s no surprise Marlene emphasized that the store is shaped not only by its products, but by the women who share their knowledge, experiences and word-of-mouth recommendations. “Women share, our business has been built on word of mouth.”
On her thoughts on artificial vs fresh flowers, Marlene said, “One is not better than the other. It’s like saying, should I buy an ornament of a dog to stand on my coffee table instead of a puppy, it’s two separate things.” Marlene circled back to emphasize, “artificial flowers and duplication of nature is an art form. Whether that’s done with food or painting or old fur . . .” She brings up that artificial vs. fresh isn’t an either/or situation; they serve entirely different emotional and practical purposes. Fresh flowers are ephemeral, good for emotional gifts, whereas artificial flowers work well as décor, having consistency, longevity. In this sense, sustainability depends on the purpose.
The quality of artisanal artificial flowers has always been excellent, with handpainting providing incredible detail. Marlene said through her years of experience, mass production has downgraded the detail to the florals, and it’s for this reason Trims pays special attention to having the best quality product, saying, “everything in our store is hand-picked and the best we can acquire.” With the pitfalls of mass production, also comes the positive advances in the industry including technological changes like laser cutting, and manufacturing techniques that help broaden access to artificial floral products.
When asked about the inspiration behind her hard work and dedication to the community of Trims, Marlene didn’t waste a beat and said, “100 per cent inspiration for everything in my life is my mom,” citing her mother’s love of nature as inspiration and a shared interest. Her artistic eye was shaped while growing up and paying close attention to nature. This leads into Trims’ core customer-service philosophy: “treat every person who walks in the door as if it’s your mother.”
Authenticity is the foundation of Marlene’s work and the shop’s identity, stating, “you can’t buy authenticity. It exists. I’m just tapping into it…serendipitously with artificial flowers. ” Trims’ longevity isn’t just about artificial flowers; it’s about community, authenticity and human connection. The ‘artificial’ becomes meaningful through people, stories, and generational continuity.