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Emotional high at Golf Mill
Carmen Seja makes a flower arrangement Feb. 7 at Emotional Bonding, a flower and gift shop at Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 15, 2013 11:36AM
NILES — During the run-up to Valentine’s Day, employees of Emotional Bonding at Golf Mill can easily be found working 16-hour days.
“It’s one of our busiest holidays,” said Carmen Seja, the manager of Emotional Bonding, a store that sells flowers, chocolates, gift baskets, cookie baskets, fruit baskets and more.
For Valentine’s Day, shoppers come in to find the perfect box of chocolates or purchase a special arrangement of flowers for that special someone. The store offers a popular “sweetheart bouquet,” which features roses and burgundy miniature carnations.
“We do all the arrangements ourselves,” said Seja.
Although Valentine’s Day and other special holidays are a very busy time at their store, she said seeing the customers satisfied makes all the hard work well worth it.
“The most rewarding thing for me is getting the customers’ feedback, saying how much they enjoyed it or how beautiful it was,” said Seja.
Emotional Bonding has been located at Golf Mill for about a year and a half. They previously operated out of a kiosk, but in December moved to a storefront next to Target and Kohl’s.
The store provides a one-stop shop for various gifts, including stuffed animals that range in size from tiny to large and greeting cards.
“We celebrate life and love in all stages,” said Seja.
Seja explained that customers come in to buy flowers for newborn babies, graduations, weddings holidays, funerals and other special occasions. As expressed in the name of the store, it aims to provide an outlet of expression for people during a special time in their lives or just a regular day.
Seja said that although it’s sad to make flower arrangements for someone’s funeral, it’s nice knowing that they brought something beautiful to the funeral.
Other popular items include Super Sweet baskets that feature a variety of classic chocolate candies, Harry London chocolates, Godiva chocolates and much more.
Seja said another best-seller is a colored container with flowers that resembles a paint can. The arrangements have names, such as “color your day with tranquility” or “color your day with happiness,” and each arrangement has a different color scheme to match the paint can.
In addition to Valentine’s Day, Seja said they cater to other holidays as well.
“We do all different types of flowers, whether you’re looking for a birthday, just because, or Mother’s Day,” said Seja.
“Most of our business is Internet-based,” said Seja.
Some of the top sellers for Valentine’s Day, according to the company’s website, include arrangements titled, “lasting romance bouquet,” “expressions of love” and “precious heart bouquet.” Many of the arrangements include red and pink roses, rainbow-colored roses and heart shaped vases.
The owner is Shrinawas Kabra and employees at the store consist of the owner, Seja and a driver.
