After 43 years, new owner, location for Humphrey Floral

By Kim McDarison

Seated together in the downtown Fort Atkinson location of Humphrey Floral and Gifts, Koshkonong resident and new owner of Humphrey Floral, LLC, Tari Poeppel, and Tim Humphrey, Fort Atkinson resident and owner of the shop for 43 years, have a visible connection. 

Energy between the two flows with excitement as they talk about future plans for the long-standing floral shop. 

For Humphrey, changes represent a transition as the company he began takes on new form, allowing him more time for gardening, home improvement projects and travel. 

For Poeppel, purchasing the business begins a new entrepreneurial chapter in her life. She and her husband, Dustin, have begun remodeling a space for the business alongside Dustin’s automotive repair shop. Both companies will reside at N1184 Poeppel Road, Koshkonong.  

While Humphrey and Poeppel are not business partners, the two describe themselves as a team. Both are eager to see the next phase of Humphrey Floral thrive and serve the extended Fort Atkinson and Koshkonong communities. 

As a mentor, Humphrey brings a 43-year legacy of floral know-how. Poeppel, who, in describing herself, said she is happiest when she owns her own business, brings an entrepreneurial spirit. 

A 43-year legacy

As he leafed through a thick photo album filled with Humphrey Floral and Gift mementos, Humphrey talked about the events that led him to opening his shop. 

For Humphrey, who arrived in Fort Atkinson from Burlington during his sophomore year of high school, an introduction into the floral business came after he obtained his drivers license and began as a delivery person for McIntyre Floral. The company was located on West Sherman Avenue, where Two Rivers Bicycle is today, Humphrey said. 

Humphrey worked at the shop during his high school and into the beginning of his college careers, he said. While studying at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, he found himself, as a part-time employee, wearing additional hats, placing him inside the shop where he learned “plant work” and floral arrangement design. 

In 1974, Humphrey recalled, he married his wife, Jill, and moved to Oshkosh, where he finished college, graduating with a business degree. 

While in Oshkosh, he said, he worked at a “large” floral shop and greenhouse. There, he said, he was exposed to corporate customers who purchased sometimes as many as 30 or 40 large floral arrangements for corporate events and parties. 

The floral industry was “booming” Humphrey said, and he gained valuable experience. He also decided that he wanted to own his own shop. 

In  1979, Humphrey said, he made the decision to return to Fort Atkinson.

In March of that year, he opened Humphrey Floral and Gifts in what is today the north side of his shop, which, he said, had formerly been occupied by Gambles Hardware. In 2000, he expanded the store into what is today the south side, which was formerly occupied by a women’s clothing store called Mode-O-Day. With the expansion, the shop offered some 6,000-square-feet of operational and retail space. 

Remembering his opening, Humphrey said, “It felt like returning home,” but, he said, as a shop owner, “I felt like the new kid on the block.” 

He learned from his business neighbors, he said, adding: “I was a sponge.” 

Over time, the store expanded its staff from four members when it opened to seven who work there today. Many will be moving to the new Koshkonong location, which will open Nov. 1, both Humphrey and Poeppel said. 

An entrepreneurial spirit

Poeppel, too, described a series of events that led her back to Wisconsin. 

Born in Madison, changes in her father’s career prompted her family to move to New Mexico when she was of pre-school age, and again to Alaska when she was 15. After graduating, along with 23 others in her class from her Alaskan high school in 2002, Poeppel attended college in Oklahoma where she studied to become a paralegal. 

As a young adult, Poeppel said, she moved many times, living, on more than one occasion, in New Mexico, and in Wyoming. 

She described her desire to see new places as “exploring adulthood.” 

Over time, she learned that a desk job did not fit with her personality, she said. 

A new life choice returned her to Fort Atkinson where she could be close to members of her extended family. She met Dustin and the couple married in 2019. 

The blended family includes Poeppel’s two daughters from a former marriage, ages 11 and 17. Both attend Fort Atkinson schools. 

Wisconsin, she said, is her “forever home.” 

Poeppel said thoughts of purchasing Humphrey Floral and Gifts formed after she learned that Humphrey had sold the downtown building from which the shop operates. 

She found enjoyment in an earlier entrepreneurial arrangement when she owned Frostie Freeze in Fort Atkinson in partnership with Brianne Brandeburg, whom, Poeppel said, continues to own the company today. 

“I didn’t want to see the community without a florist. I thought I could fill a need, so I just put those pants on,” she said. 

Humphrey confirmed that the building has been sold to Mitch and Erin Patterson. The couple owns Paddy Coughlin’s Irish Pub and 10-62 Saloon, both in Fort Atkinson. Plans call for the Humphrey Floral and Gift space to be transformed into a virtual golf venue, Humphrey said. 

The couple took ownership of the building in May. The floral shop will continue to lease space in the building until the end of the year, Humphrey said. 

During that time, he will continue to sell remaining inventory from Humphrey Floral and Gift that Poeppel does not plan to move to the new location. 

When the new store opens, Poeppel said, it will continue to carry pre-made arrangements in a display cooler, wines, chocolates and other merchandise that can be sent with flowers like cards, but it will carry fewer home decor and gift items, she said. 

The new business model centers around floral deliveries, she said, adding that her new location allows her to lessen her overhead costs. She is passing those saving onto her customers by offering free delivery to customers within the city of Fort Atkinson and about a quarter mile outside of the city limits, she said. 

Family ties

Poeppel said much about her business — Humphrey Floral, LLC — will be the same as it was under Humphrey’s ownership. 

The same floral designers will be working from the new location, and Humphrey will be on-site as a mentor for as long as he’s needed, he said. 

While Humphrey’s tenure established a 43-year legacy, the new location comes with some history, too. 

Poeppel said her husband’s family has lived on the road that bear’s its name for four generations. The property from which the automotive business and floral shop will operate was once part of the family farm. Dustin’s father, John, still farms crops there today, Poeppel said. 

Dustin opened his business in 2014. 

With the addition of the floral shop, visitors to the building will find the floral shop first. 

“Automotive customers will just have to smell the roses,” Poeppel said. 

An added benefit is that automotive customers can buy flowers, wine and chocolates for people of significance in their lives while they have their vehicles repaired, she said. 

While remodeling in her portion of the building is still underway, on Monday, Poeppel offered Fort Atkinson Online a look at the site. 

The new 1,000-square-foot space, once completed, will feature a display cooler and consultation space for those looking to buy custom-made floral arrangements. 

Additionally, Poeppel said, “We will have a huge mirrored wall for our green and blooming plants and greeting cards, and chocolates.”

The new space will feature a marble-feel floor and walls that bring old-fashioned charm. She described her vision for the space as “country-urban.” 

The new shop is located three miles south of the downtown Fort Atkinson area, Poeppel said. 

She is eager to greet customers and serve their floral needs in the new space after the first of November, she said.