Nayelli Valdemar was ebullient on a sun-splashed September morning in looking out the windows of her newly expanded business.

Valdemar’s Funky Flower Shop in Mercedes enjoyed a chamber of commerce ribbon cutting in mid-September to commemorate a doubling of the square footage of her business. The new floor space of Funky Flower at 400 square feet may not register much excitement at the H-E-B stores where she once worked. It does mean a great deal for a small business getting its footing in a growing Mid-Valley community.

“I’m so happy to see all of the expansions happening around me,” Valdemar said of the recent growth in her hometown. “I’m very excited to celebrate to all of that even if it’s in a small way.”

Valdemar got her business grounding while working as retail floral manager at H-E-B stores in the Rio Grande Valley. Her artistic bent when combined with her love of flowers stirred ambitions to have her own business. In 2023, and only 25 at the time, Valdemar opened her flower shop in Mercedes on north Vermont Avenue with the motto of uno solo puede.

“One can do it” has been her positive vibe all along and it’s paying off. Valdemar as a younger generation entrepreneur has skillfully used social media to build up a TikTok following and make connections to customers in the La Feria-to-Weslaco stretch of the Mid-Valley. Sharing floral videos on the platform has built awareness locally and elsewhere as well. Valdemar recalled the story of a TikTok viewer in Nebraska contacting her to do a floral arrangement for her mother, a Winter Texan residing in the Valley.

“Being competitive, being consistent and offering quality products,” Valdemar said of the keys to her success. “You can’t grow if people don’t believe in the stuff you sell.”

The added space at her flower shop will come in handy during the upcoming holiday season. The rush of customers will be easier to handle and also provide them a better look at her displays. She views the Valley as a regional market where gift-giving brings an added element to floral sales. 

“The RGV has tight-knit communities,” Valdemar said. “We like giving gifts and people as part of their religion often give flowers to honor and remember loves ones and to important figures in their religion.”