By Laurel Busby
Staff Writer
J’Adore Les Fleurs, a new flower shop at 542 Palisades Dr. (in the Highlands Plaza, next to Roast), combines a zest for flowers with a love of French design.
The family business, which is operated by designer florist Margarit Demirchyan and her two daughters-in-law, Eliza Glants and Alisa Tovmanyan, specializes in flower arrangements in hatboxes—an idea that has been gaining popularity in Europe, but had not yet come to California.
“Our mutual passion for flowers, beauty, nature and fashion led us to this idea,” Glants said. “We started doing research and got inspired with the chicness of French Ladurée Patisserie packaging and the exquisite idea of Maison Des Fleurs (a Dubai flower boutique) of putting the arrangements in hatboxes.”
The trio opened their first store in Studio City last year, expanded to Glendale later in the year, then opened the Palisades store on Aug. 3 because so many customers lived in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and Malibu. The hatbox arrangements, which start at $120, become more expensive due to the charges the owners have to pass along from its delivery company, but by having a Palisades location, those charges are either eliminated or reduced.
“We hate charging delivery fees,” Glants said. J’Adore Les Fleurs now provides free delivery in the Palisades and less expensive deliveries to Santa Monica and Malibu.
Customer service is important to the co-owners. “It’s something coming from everyone’s heart,” Glants said. “We like to treat our customers and employees as part of our family.” She noted that at their other locations, their customers have become their friends. “They like spending time with us. We hope we will bring that to Pacific Palisades as well, that home touch to the shop.”
Glants, an attorney, and her sister-in-law, a fashion designer, first began working with their mother-in-law before they married her sons, Khachik and Davit Karapetyan, who also co-own the business. The women joined their mother-in-law’s endeavors for big events, such as weddings.
“She likes teaching us how to make arrangements, and we love flowers,” said Glants, who grew up in Armenia where her mother-in-law Demirchyan studied at one of the country’s premiere floral design schools.
After moving to the United States, Demirchyan first worked at flower shops before opening her own small shop 10 years ago. When the family decided to delve into the business together, they created the new, more specialized shop.
“We didn’t want to offer something that was already out there,” Glants said. “There were and are so many talented florists and amazing flower shops locally that we wanted to invest in something unique, something that would differentiate us from everybody else.”
The flowers they use come mainly come from Ecuador or the downtown Los Angeles flower market, where they make purchases three or four times per week “to assure we have freshest flowers in the shop,” Glants said.
In addition, the shop makes arrangements based on a customer’s request, which can range from a $20 bouquet to one of the hatbox specialties, which may include roses, hydrangeas or varied flowers based on a client’s color scheme and preference.
“We have a very particular style, and we only buy the flowers that we think aesthetically are going to fit the box,” Glants said. “We don’t use any cheap fillers. We don’t use any flowers we wouldn’t personally like to receive.”
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