Mathew Maclay: Flower and Flour
by Ely Cocklin
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Tuesday mornings for coffee and a smile, Saturday afternoons for flowers and conversation; Flower and Flour brings warmth to any day with its double sided space of well curated seasonal flowers and array of caffeinated drinks and small bites. Over the past year or so we have gotten to know co-owner Matthew Maclay and wanted to spend some time to catch up with him as we shoot our spring collection from General Admission.
Last time we spoke it seemed like the shop had only been open a few months, covid was still headlining every morning and your wife had just made it back from the olympics. How have you been?
We have been good! And the shop has been doing good as well! At this point the shop has been open for a year and a half which is crazy to think about... But also Kaleo’s team won gold so that was super rad, plus while she was in Tokyo we found out that she was pregnant with our second boy who is only a couple of weeks away from showing his little Hawaiian Spanish pea head to the world lol. So lots happening positive and negative but we are thankful to be in the season of life we are currently.
That's amazing! What has it been like for you all navigating your business and growing family through the pandemic?
Well having opened during the pandemic its honestly been “normal” to us to say the least. We as owners are pretty flexible type of people but with how much information changed and rules changed during the pandemic it really allowed us to grow as a business into one that can also be flexible in whatever season. So its not been a perfect journey by any means but we’ve constantly given it our all through whatever was thrown at us.
We moved locations right in the middle of the pandemic as well so I feel as though I can totally relate to that sentiment. Something I think I really connected with before I even had the opportunity to meet you was your sense of community. I love what you all are doing with Flower and Flour. Can you tell me more about what community means to you and how the Flower and Flour concept was born?
Really appreciate you saying that! Something we try to be broken records to our staff about is how, yes, the coffee and baked goods we make and serve need to be excellent and properly made but that’s not the most important part of the job, its the moments we get to have with people! My family and I lived in Hawaii for a while and my wife is Hawaiian as well, so we have tons of family over there. But one of the most beautiful things about Hawaii are the people, so many different cultures, backgrounds, preferences etc... something that flows through all of them is the spirit of Aloha and really what showing Aloha means is to Love! How we were treated by everybody, how everybody was either sis, braddah, auntie or uncle it really resonated with us and upon moving back to OKC and wanting to open the shop we knew that culturally we wanted to make sure that a strong spirit of Aloha flowed out of our business and into the people!
Walking into Flower and Flour I notice that between you and the rest of the staff there is a sense of authentic taste and style. Through-and-through everyone seems to dress, accessorize and hold palatable taste between the two concepts of the store. How have you managed to cultivate a staff, customer-basis and following that innately has good taste?
That’s a compliment that I myself don’t deserve haha because I am only a small fraction of the whole that helped to create and develop the look and feel we have as a shop and staff. Rather than dictate what employees have to wear like many businesses do, we have chosen to allow each person to be themselves and bring their own unique style to the table and ultimately it influences the overall style of the shop.
I think oftentimes people confuse and consolidate a sense of style with only the way you dress. In a more broader sense, how has growing up in the skate community affected your sense of style.
I love this question so much lol. Honestly growing up in the skate community drastically shaped my entire life good and bad haha but in regards to style I'd also say the same. You are right, style is such a broad term that people too often put into a box, but it's also your attitude and persona or who you are as a person that wraps holistically into your style. The skate community was my family, I was a little grom out at Mitch park and in Altered Skates getting into older dudes ways but they would always cheer me on when I learned to drop in or board slide the rail for the first time, I was stoked so they were stoked! It was the sense of “I got your back” and “I’m cheering you on” that I loved and that made me want to be that kind of person who not just in skateboarding but in all communities can have other peoples backs and cheer them on as well. Hope that was in the direction you were asking haha
Yes, that's brilliant! What does the future look like for Flower and Flour?
That’s a great question! We have hopes and dreams of wanting to do a shop back in Hawaii one day (BIG DREAM) but for now we are just trying to take it day by day!
Do you all have anything coming up you are looking forward to?
We just added a few new hires to our staff so I'm stoked to see their development as barista’s, I love being able to see people fall in love with the process of coffee like I did! Other than that our son Kai will be here super soon!
Congratulations! I can't wait to meet him. Is there anything you'd like to plug or talk about?
Just want to say we love you and your shop and what you and your team have built and the way you guys love on everybody it makes me so happy to see! S/O to my wife Kaleo who is my best friend and business partner <3 But I guess if you haven’t been by the shop please come! Doggies always allowed too lol.
Photography from Aldo Delara
Styling from Seaira Hull with You'llSea
Interview from Elyjah Monks