Central Floral Company keeps a number of leafy plants in stock during summer to balance out the display of flowers.

VALDOSTA — It’s hard to say exactly when Central Floral Company started.

The Lowndes County Historical Society has a copy of Valdosta High’s 1945 yearbook which has a small ad for Central Floral Company.

There’s another small ad in the May 1945 edition of The Dosta Outlook, Valdosta High’s newspaper.

So, while it might not be possible to point to a definite day in 1945, it’s fairly safe to say it started in the first half of 1945.

Originally, it was located at 122 W. Central Ave, which leant its name to the company.

It has moved a couple of times throughout the years — to 502 N. Patterson St. in 1949, to its current location of 607 N. Patterson St. sometime after the 1970s — but Central Floral Company has always stayed close to Downtown Valdosta.

“We have this history with the community,” said Kae Sinkule, who currently works at Central Floral. “I think part of it is being located close to downtown. We have people that drive up, people that walk up, people that drive their bikes up. We have an accessible location that’s in the heart of the community we serve.”

The location has changed hands a few times throughout the year, said Sinkule, and is currently owned by the estate of Frank and Charlotte Heard.

For more than 30 years, Central Floral was managed by Sandy Villa.

Villa was an involved, hands-on manager.

When she passed away in October, the crew at Central Floral — including Sinkule, manager Brenda Hassenstab, driver Kevner Dyer and designers Kelley Clark, Violet Sherry, Traci Heard-Poer and Sarah Gillis — worked to fill her role.

While Central Floral has changed throughout the years, the core purpose of the company has stayed the same.

“Flowers are characterizing something personal in your life,” said Sinkule. “A celebration, the unfortunate death of someone you know or love, or just to express emotion. It’s a little bit beyond just your regular store.

“We participate in the highest and the lowest points of people’s lives. The birth of their children, their weddings and anniversaries. The death of someone they love. When you forge that relationship, when you do something creative that helps them express themselves, they recognize that. I think that’s why we’ve seen this through the generations. We’ve demonstrated time and time again that we’re going to be here, we’re going to help you with your price point, we’re going to give you a very creative product regardless of what your style and interest is. People respond to that openness and that’s what we’re trying to continue.”

While the purpose is the same, Hassenstab, who worked for the company in 1974 as part of her high school’s work-study program, has seen the popular styles change.

At the time, baskets were popular, with only a handful of customers wanting vases.

Now, vase arrangements are more popular, along with a variety of vessels: cubes, owl figures.

Hassenstab has also seen the effect an increasingly connected world has had on the flower business.

“Now, we have access to so many flowers,” said Hassenstab. “We can get anything from an orchid to a carnation to a daisy. Pretty much whatever people throw out there, we’re able to get.”

Social media has also played a role in changing popular styles, with some younger customers coming in with a Pinterest board full of ideas.

“We can do the old-fashioned stuff that was the foundation of Central Floral,” said Clark. “But we can also do the contemporary work, the trending styles and the way out stuff.”