Shirley Roberts took a gamble back in 1973, leaving a comfortable job she had held for more than a decade to launch her own business.

It’s safe to say Roberts’ risky venture ended up smelling like roses.

With her first shot at entrepreneurship, Roberts created Flowers By Shirley, a fixture in the city’s small-business community that Roberts and her two children have nurtured through the ups and downs of the florist game but must now prepare to let go.

Flowers By Shirley, after providing flowers and keepsakes for generations of Bowling Green residents from its Broadway Avenue location, will sell its last floral arrangement next month, closing its doors on March 29.

“It’s been wonderful,” Roberts said Tuesday. “I hate to do it, but it’s just time. I need to take a step back.”

Roberts has already stepped back somewhat from the business she launched, turning over day-to-day operations of the shop to son Kelley Roberts and daughter Stacey Roberts last year because of health problems.

But that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to the business she created and nurtured.

“I always enjoyed what I did,” she said. “Having the opportunity to work with fresh flowers is just a godsend. You get to make arrangements and make everybody happy.”

Those who Roberts made happy include her own children, who both left other jobs to join their mother’s business and made careers out of arranging and selling flowers.

Flowers were in Roberts’ blood from an early age. She started at Inez Flowers in downtown Bowling Green before moving to Deemer Floral, where she worked for 14 years before opening her own shop.

“Mom took a leap of faith (in starting the business),” said daughter Stacey Roberts. “She probably didn’t think it would last this long.”

Stacey Roberts herself probably didn’t think her tenure at Flowers By Shirley would last as long as it has. She joined her mother and older brother Kelley Roberts 38 years ago, first delivering flowers and later evolving into the bookkeeping role she now has.

“We’ve all worked well together over the years,” Stacey Roberts said. “We built up a lot of repeat customers, doing flowers for anniversaries, Valentine’s Day and birthdays.

“Now kids will come in needing flowers for their proms, and we find out that we did flowers for their parents’ weddings.”

Like his sister, Kelley Roberts learned to love the flower business when he joined Flowers By Shirley 42 years ago.

“I was working in a shoe store as a salesman when she (his mother) said she needed help for Valentine’s Day,” said Kelley Roberts. “I came, and I never left.”

Now 61, Kelley Roberts said he has enjoyed working alongside his mother and sister and seeing the evolution of the flower business.

“I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed meeting the public. We used to have more people coming in to the shop. Now people just pick up the phone and call in their order or do it on the computer.”

Kelley Roberts said he will miss the close-knit local flower business and the interactions with regular customers.

“In this town, all the flower shops are friendly competitors,” he said. “You can call the others if you don’t have a particular item. We’ve seen a lot of shops come and go, and we’ve helped other people open shops in other towns.”

Helping customers celebrate occasions like weddings and birthdays has brought joy over the years, but Kelley Roberts said even sad occasions are opportunities to build relationships with customers.

“When a family comes in and wants us to do flowers for a loved one who has passed away, to me that’s an opportunity,” he said. “We get to honor them with fresh flowers. We’ve always taken a lot of pride in that.”

Like his mother, Kelley Roberts is ready to step away from a business that he says has changed over the years as grocery stores and even online retailers have begun selling flowers.

“We’re closing March 29, and I’m retiring then,” he said. “I’m going to enjoy the rest of my life and enjoy my grandkids.

“We’re going to sell down the products we have and sell the vehicles and refrigeration equipment.”

As for the property on one of the main routes into and out of downtown Bowling Green, Kelley Roberts said he has had a few people inquire but is in no hurry to sell.

Seeing her flower shop transition to another use may be a sad occasion for Shirley Roberts, but she knows the time is right.

“It’s very bittersweet,” she said. “But there comes a time when you need some fun time in your life. It’s a good time to take it easy and reflect back on my life. I have a lot of good memories.”