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About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2022)
FEATURE STORY 4 • JULY 2022 COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL Young entrepreneur returns to her roots Florist opens 360 Shops Floral, Gifts and More By LUKE WHITTAKER Coast River Business Journal OCEAN PARK — On a sunny June afternoon, Kaysea Johnson paused from putting the finishing touches on a rose arrangement and reminisced about her roots. In May, Johnson officially opened the 360 Flo- ral, Gifts and More, her own flower and custom gift store along Bay Avenue in Ocean Park, the culmina- tion of a dream that began with mom’s former Utah- based flower business roughly 20 years before. Returning to her roots Johnson, now 28, was 10 when she started her first job helping her mom, Heather Hall, in their family business. “My mom owned a floral shop for 11 years in Utah,” said Johnson, originally from Ogden. Her first responsibilities included helping pro- cess the flowers, which developed into preparing arrangements. “She would pay me 75 cents for every arrange- ment, that was my first job, which grew into my pas- sion, my love of flowers and plants and seeing the joy it brought to other people,” Johnson said. The family floral business was forced to close during the 2008-2009 recession, however. “It threw a wrench in things, so she closed her shop and pursued other things,” Johnson said, add- ing that for roughly 15 years the flower industry left the family. Brush with fame Meanwhile, Johnson went to work in the food and beverage industry as a waitress and hostess, which took her from Utah to Las Vegas, where she was employed at a resort and casino restaurant owned and frequented by a famous chef. “I lived in Las Vegas for seven years working with Gordon Ramsay at this restaurant [Gordon Ramsay Burger] at Planet Hollywood,” Johnson said. “He was in and out of the restaurant.” Ramsay, known for being a highly critical restaurateur on TV, was different in person com- pared to his on-screen persona. “He’s totally acting when throwing those fits like he does. He’s actually really sweet and caring. He knew all of his employees by name,” Johnson said. After working as a food and beverage direc- tor for the Planet Hollywood restaurants, in 2018 Johnson took a new position as a talent and training See Page 5 PHOTOS BY LUKE WHITTAKER ABOVE: Kaysea Johnson works on a floral ar- rangement at her business, 360 Floral Shop, lo- cated at 1910 Bay Ave. in Ocean Park. The busi- ness opened in May specializing in custom gift baskets, calligraphy and floral arrangements. RIGHT: Johnson does import some flowers, in- cluding the leis from Hawaii and a few flowers from regions renown for growing particular spe- cies, including Thailand and Ecuador. 360 Shops Floral, Gifts and More Kaysea Johnson, owner 1910 Bay Ave., Ocean Park Hours: 10 a.m. — 4 p.m. daily, closed Sunday 425-410-9083
