(Image: CHS)
Acer House is rising on the corner Flowers Just 4 U once called home at 23rd and Cherry (Image: @benmaritz)
Mere weeks after her 96th birthday, Mary Wesley has passed.
Affectionately known to her customers as “Miss Mary,” Wesley owned and operated a flower shop for 40 years in the Central District.
Wesley opened her first shop in 1984 on the corner of 23rd and Jackson after retiring from a successful career at Boeing. The first Black-owned floral shop in the Central District, Flowers Just 4 U was a shop that fostered community alongside its arrangements.
Providing arrangements for everyone from celebrities, local sports teams, and the day-to-day occasions here in Seattle, Wesley’s artistry and generosity left a lasting impact on all she did.
An active churchgoer and well loved member of the community, Wesley saw that community rally around her with a fundraiser early last year after closing Flowers Just 4 U for her second try at retirement.
Even through this, Wesley had hopes that a new owner would come in for the space and continue her floral legacy in the Central Area.
Traci Tate, a long time Central District resident, says she has stepped in to continue this legacy. Similar to Wesley, this shop will mark a career turning point for Tate, transitioning from a career in the tech space.
Tate says Wesley was adamant that she would not be taking on the business on her own, and supported the new owner throughout the acquisition, working alongside her to develop plans for the upcoming shop.
Tate’s shop, 23rd and Bloom, will occupy a retail space in the upcoming Acer House development, an affordable housing and afrofuturist development that had approached Wesley about continuing her business in the space before her retirement.
“I will remember Mary as a visionary,” said Tate. “My hope for the shop is that it will capture Mary’s essence and be customer focused.”
23rd and Bloom is slated to open in early 2027 and will continue Wesley’s work, with Tate aiming to continue the community cultivation and honor Wesley’s legacy.
Wesley arranged the flowers for Tate’s grandfather’s funeral service, and formerly worked with her grandmother at Boeing.
“She had a giving and kind heart, we can all stand to have a little more kindness in our lives,” said Tate.
Wesley is survived by her sister, her nieces and nephews, and the warm legacy she cultivated alongside her flowers.
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