City Scents Floral & Home

Half flower shop, half gift shop, and the rare Streeterville address where you can assemble the bouquet with your own hands. City Scents has held this stretch of downtown for close to three decades, and its Flower Bar — an open counter of fresh and dried stems you combine yourself — is why people walk in without an occasion and leave with one.

What to come here for

The location writes the guest list: this is downtown’s hotel, office and hospital district, so the shop absorbs the errands that come with it — a bouquet for someone staying two blocks away, a thank-you from an office upstairs, flowers for a visitor at the nearby medical campus.

Two planned strands sit on top. Weddings are handled by appointment with a wedding specialist, in the modern, uncluttered style the shop is known for, and corporate work is a real line of business — offices, reception desks, lobbies and retail spaces, on a schedule rather than one-off.

Delivery and same-day orders

Same-day delivery runs daily to all of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, which covers the practical cases for a downtown shop: a hotel front desk, an office tower, a home in the neighborhoods, a suburban address for a family birthday.

No fixed cutoff hour is published, so for a same-day order call in the morning rather than trusting a checkout form in the afternoon — especially in the Valentine’s and Mother’s Day weeks, when downtown windows fill first. For an address inside the medical campus, mention it on the phone, since ward rules vary.

What stands out

• The Flower Bar. Fresh and dried stems on an open counter, combined by the customer — not a service most Chicago florists offer.
• Nearly three decades in one neighborhood. A fixture rather than a downtown pop-up.
• Woman- and minority-owned, as the shop states, and it carries that through to the goods on the shelves.
• A plant desk, not just a plant shelf. Repotting and straight advice on keeping a plant alive.
• Gifts from small makers. Candles, soaps, artwork, jewelry and sweets from independent businesses.

Where the flowers come from

Suppliers and buying schedule are not published, and there is no point inventing them. What is visible is the mix: fresh stems alongside a standing selection of dried florals, which is a deliberate choice rather than an off-season fallback — dried material is what lets a build-your-own counter work year-round in this climate.

The space, the service, and what else they sell

The room is two businesses sharing a floor: on one side the bar of loose stems and arrangements built to order, on the other home goods — candles, soaps, artwork, jewelry, confections — which is why this works when the gift needs to be something other than a bouquet. Houseplants sit between the two, and you can bring one back for repotting or turn up with a photograph of a plant that is failing.

When to come and how to get there

Streeterville, a few minutes on foot from the Red Line and from the hotel and medical blocks around it — a walk-in stop rather than a destination you drive to. February and early May are the crushes, late spring brings weddings and graduation weekends, and in deep winter the dried side of the counter earns its place: a dried arrangement takes a cold walk along the lakefront in a way fresh stems will not.

Questions and answers

Can I make the bouquet myself?

Yes — that is what the Flower Bar is for: pick from fresh and dried stems on the counter and put it together, with help if you want it.

Is there same-day delivery?

Yes, daily, to all of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs; no fixed cutoff is published, so call in the morning if it has to arrive today.

Do they sell houseplants, and will they help me keep one alive?

Yes — plants are a proper part of the shop, with repotting and advice alongside.

Do they do weddings?

Yes, by appointment with a wedding specialist; book early for late-spring and summer dates.

What if the gift shouldn’t be flowers at all?

The home side covers that: candles, soaps, artwork, jewelry and sweets, largely from small independent makers.

Is a dried arrangement a real option, or a compromise?

A real option here — dried stems are on the counter year-round, and in a Chicago January they survive the trip home better.

Opening hours