Malesis Flowers returns to downtown Renton

Malesis Flowers & Gifts is back on Rainier Avenue in Renton, after a two-month stint in Kent.

The 46-year-old business moved south at the end of January to share space with Kent Floral, whose owners bought Malesis last spring.

That southern location didn’t last long.

Shannon Carpenter of Auburn bought the business in March and reopened the large mirrored shop in Renton on March 28.

The shop was started by Louie and Mary Malesis and has shuffled in and out of their hands over the years.

Louie Malesis bought the shop back from the owners of Kent Floral early this year and then sold it to Carpenter.

Carpenter has 33 years of floral experience. She started as a delivery driver at age 16 and then worked at several area shops and grocery stores. She also owns Beyond the Garden Gate Floral & Interiors in Kent.

Her designer, Randy Hall, owned Randy’s Flowers in Federal Way for 18 years.

“So we have a lot of experience here,” Carpenter says.

Malesis specializes in weddings and funerals and corporate accounts, but can handle “pretty much anything that the people need,” Carpenter says. That includes gifts and gourmet food baskets.

The 3 1/2-foot-tall floral anchor Malesis recently created for a Navy funeral at Tahoma National Cemetery fits into that “pretty much anything” category.

Blooming with red and white carnations, the anchor was slung with a blue sash that read: “Gone Fishing.”

Hall has also used flowers to create motorcycles, tractors and policemen’s shields.

“Just about any kind of floral arrangement that they would want,” Carpenter says of her shop’s abilities.

<Malesis Flowers and Gifts

Malesis Flowers & Gifts is at 313 Rainier Avenue S. The shop is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. The shop’s phone number is 425-228-6622.