La Salle Flowers & Chicago Flower Delivery

A downtown flower shop that has been working the same River North corner since 1936, under a vintage neon sign that has outlived most of the block. Despite the “flower delivery” half of its name, this is a real storefront with its own designers — and one of the few places in the center of Chicago that can put an arrangement in an office, a hotel suite or a hospital room on the same working day.

What to order here for

Downtown occasions dominate, and they split in two. First the corporate side: weekly flowers for offices and lobbies, arrangements for company parties and client events, the gift a firm sends when a deal closes. Second, the personal side a downtown address generates all year — anniversaries and romance, congratulations on a new baby, get-well arrangements to the Streeterville hospitals a few blocks east, and the flowers a visitor buys on the way to dinner. Weddings are a declared specialty; custom sympathy arrangements are part of the regular work too.

The design bench matters more here than in a neighborhood shop: the florists are described as award-winning and trained across European, Oriental and domestic styles — the practical reason a request like “something architectural, not round” tends to land.

Delivery and deadlines

The number to remember is 10:00 a.m. An order placed before it goes out the same day; after that it moves to the next day. That is an earlier cutoff than most Chicago florists keep, and it is the trade-off for a delivery map this wide: same-day covers the city and more than 150 Chicagoland suburbs, while anything beyond that ring is sent as an out-of-area order and can go anywhere in the country. International orders are taken by phone rather than online.

A specific hour is not guaranteed, though the shop’s own service pledge — it calls it “Yes We Can” — is explicitly about trying to accommodate awkward requests such as an early-morning or end-of-day drop, or a basket that is not in the catalog. For a hospital or a hotel, add the room or suite number and the recipient’s phone: downtown front desks and nursing stations delay more deliveries than traffic does.

What stands out

• Downtown since 1936. The same family-run business on the same River North corner through nine decades of change around it.
• The neon sign. Preservation Chicago, which named the shop a Chicago Legacy Business, singles it out as a surviving piece of the city’s historic streetscape.
• A 10:00 a.m. same-day line. Early, but it buys a same-day reach of more than 150 suburbs.
• A trained design bench. European, Oriental and domestic styles, which is what makes non-standard requests workable.
• Standing corporate accounts. Weekly flowers for offices and venues, not just one-off gifts.
• Hand-arranged, not shipped in a box. The shop’s own line, and the difference shows when the recipient has to display it immediately.

Where the flowers come from

The shop does not publish its wholesalers or buying schedule — the usual situation for a downtown florist. The one sourcing detail it names itself, in its list of specialty services, is Ecuadorian roses, the long-stemmed South American crop most serious rose work in the United States is built on. Everything else about freshness is the shop’s own claim rather than a documented supply chain.

The space, the service and what else they sell

It is a walk-in shop, which in the center of Chicago is no longer the default: much of what advertises itself as downtown flower delivery turns out to be a call center with a van. Here you can come in, see the stems, talk to a designer and leave with the arrangement. Besides cut flowers the range covers green and blooming plants, European and dish gardens, gourmet and fruit baskets, balloons and plush animals — the exact combination a maternity ward or a child’s birthday calls for — plus subscriptions for people who want flowers on a standing schedule rather than once.

When to come and how to get there

River North, a few minutes’ walk from the Magnificent Mile and an easy errand from most Loop offices; the nearest ‘L’ station is within walking distance, which matters more than parking, since parking downtown is the hard part. Look for the neon sign rather than the number. The peaks are sharper here than in the neighborhoods: Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, the May and June run of proms, graduations and weddings, then the corporate stretch from Thanksgiving through the December parties. In deep winter the wind off the lake between car and lobby is a real factor — ask for the arrangement to be sleeved before you carry it out.

Questions and answers

Can I get flowers delivered today?

Yes, if the order is placed before 10:00 a.m. Later orders are scheduled for the next day.

Can I set up flowers for an office every week?

Yes — standing weekly accounts for offices and venues are one of the shop’s declared specialties, along with corporate parties and events.

Can I walk in and buy something ready?

Yes. It is a retail storefront with designers on site, so you can choose in person and take the arrangement with you.

How far ahead should a wedding be booked?

Wedding work is custom, so start the conversation months out — for a summer or holiday-season date, as early as you can.

Can I ask for a specific delivery time?

A specific hour is not guaranteed, but the stated policy is to try to accommodate early or late requests. Ask when you order rather than after.

Is it really the same shop it was in 1936?

The business has run continuously as a family-owned florist on the same corner since then, and now operates alongside several other historic Chicago flower shops under the same family’s ownership.

Opening hours