Dan and Gwen Bauer could not resist the lure of Manteca’s downtown business district or,  for that matter, the city of Manteca itself.

So they did a double plunge last fall, a feat that probably would faze even the not-so-faint of heart. But they were young and so in love, in more ways than one. And they were full of hope for their future.

First, in September they opened a floral shop in the heart of downtown Manteca, directly across the street from the post office on Maple Street.

They called it Floralicious Designs.

A month later, they tied the knot.

“We’ve been busy here ever since,” said Gwen, her eyes twinkling and her voice ringing with optimism.

“It’s been better than we thought,” she said of the state of their business since opening day.

“People are really positive about the place. We’ve already had several returning customers,” she said with cautious excitement.

“It’s promising, and being right across the street from the post office is the best place ever,” she said as she got ready for one of the busiest times of the year for florists, Valentine’s Day.

Every wall and corner of her shop, which used to be an art studio where art classes and tole painting were held, is full of her original Valentine’s Day-themed designs - fresh flower arrangements accented with red hearts and live plants with full green foliage sprinkled with heart-shaped accents, just to name a few of Gwen’s original creations. It was she who coined Floralicious which, she said laughingly, was inspired in part by the singer-actress Beyonce Knowles’ famed business moniker, bootylicious.

“It just came to me. We were just brainstorming on different names. We wanted something with the word flower in it,” she further explained.

“I like doing things with my hand. I’ve always been crafty,” she added, explaining why she decided to follow this career path.

Her husband readily defers to his wife as the creative heart and soul of the business.

“She’s good with flowers; she enjoys it,” said Dan whose contributions to the floral-gift operation are the honey-dos in the shop as needed such as painting the inside walls.

Gwen happily concurred. Before they decided to start their business in a brick-and-mortar setting, “I did it out of my home for a while,” Gwen said.

Finally, last year, they both said, “let’s try it and see what happens. We’ll give it our best shot.”

When he’s not working on hardware projects in the floral shop, Dan is busy in his own commercial and residential painting business.

But that’s not all that keeps him occupied. During his down time, he helps Dan Triglia of Manteca coach varsity baseball at East Union High School, his alma mater. He is a member of the Lancers’ Class of 2000. Born and raised in Manteca, Dan played baseball in high school. Gwen grew up in Escalon.

As to why they chose downtown Manteca for their floral business venture, Gwen said, “We like this area. We like the downtown. We figured Manteca could use something like this down here.”

Floralicious is a full-service flower shop and includes free delivery for all local orders including weddings, funerals, and other special occasions.

The Bauers are slowly working at becoming a part of the business community. They have just been recruited to become a member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber will be featuring Floralicious Designs at their next mixer to be held Wednesday, Feb. 10, starting at 5:30 p.m. The evening event will serve as the backdrop for the Hispanic Chamber’s installation of new officers.

“We’re really excited about,” Gwen said.

With the opening of Floralicious Designs, the commercial complex on the southeast corner of Center and Maple streets in the heart of downtown Manteca is again full with no vacant space. Before Floralicious opened, there were at least two vacancies in the building - the corner unit where The Record had its bureau office, and the painting studio where the flower shop is now located. Other tenants at this prime business area are the  Le Croissant Bakery, Double Stitch, Manteca Optometry, and along Center Street, the Deli House and a computer repair shop.

For more information about Floralicious Designs, call (209) 824-0290 or drop by at 164 N. Maple Avenue.