Flower Shops Lexington NC

Lexington NC Press

Storks to close Fremont flower shop, retire

I ever wanted to find a job working at a greenhouse that he would help me find a job.” The couple married. Kent taught English in Lexington for a year before moving to Lincoln. There, he worked at a flower shop. In 1974, Kent began working for Miles Fremont Greenhouse. Joyce taught classes at Trinity Lutheran School in Fremont. Three years later, the couple decided to go into business for themselves. While in Lexington, the couple was given an African violet. It didn't fare too well. “We killed it,” Joyce said. But Kent researched why the plant had died, and his interest in the plant grew. “He was growing violets down in our basement,” Joyce said. “We were taking them to little boutiques and selling them.” The seed was planted. “When I found out that I could sell them that was when I wanted to go into business and have that dual thing of growing violets and florist stuff,” Kent said. Kent's Flowers opened in 1977 at 320 W. Eagle St. in Arlington — only a block away from the funeral home. “Instead of driving the flower arrangements to the funeral home, we walked them,” Joyce said. “Kent would make them and I would carry them down the street to the funeral home. There was always kind of a parade of flowers.” In the flower business, Joyce said, weddings and funerals generate the most money and determine if it will be a good year or not. The couple remembered one year in particular where they had at least one funeral a week for 20-straight weeks while they were in Arlington. In 1979, the couple's son, Zach, was born; Nathaniel followed in 1982. The boys could often be found in the store with their parents while they were working. “One of Zach's first discernible words was a version of 'thank you,'” Joyce said. “He heard us saying it to customers all the time,” Kent added. In 1990, the Storks opened a second location in Fremont. They operated both stores until 1992, when Joyce had back surgery. As their floral business grew, so did the couple's interest in African violets. At the urging of former Arlington resident Lois Gnuse, the Storks began selling their violets at an Omaha flower and garden show. “We'd actually have people... http://www.enterprisepub.com/news/arlington/storks-to-close-fremont-flower-shop-retire/article_afecd85a-6ba0-11e6-a0d4-0fcf7eb829a6.html

When It Comes to Flowers, Moms Are More Popular Than Sweethearts

The rush to make Mom feel loved with fresh, fragrant blooms has New York florist John Kromidas hiring three extra workers and keeping his Lexington Flower Shop open longer. “This time of year, everything goes,” Kromidas said as he cut roses on Wednesday at his midtown Manhattan store. “Every mom has a favorite flower. The best sellers are peonies and lilacs this year. Orchids are also popular, and that’s something that’s come to the market in the past five years.” Americans, loving and/or guilt-ridden, will spend about $3.9 billion on fresh-cut and potted indoor flowers for the holiday, said Tom Prince, the president of Columbus, Ohio-based Prince & Prince Inc., which has been tracking the market for more than two decades. That’s the highest since at least 1996 and compares with $3.6 billion in 2013, the last year the firm ran the survey. Spending Rebounds “Spending for Mother’s Day has been bumping lower and higher for the past few years, but has recovered a bit since falling after the recession in 2008,” he said. “Floral spending is highly discretionary.” This year, prices for popular bouquets “have essentially remained the same” compared with 2014, Amy Toosley, director of public relations for Downers Grove, Illinois-based FTD Companies Inc., which includes Proflowers, said in an e-mail. For Mother’s Day, celebrated on May 10 this year, Americans on average will spend $172.63 on flowers, jewelry and other gifts, including ... greeting cards, the Washington-based National Retail Federation estimates. That’s almost $10 more than last year. Whether you pick a carnation or a hydrangea, mom’s present will probably come from California, Ecuador or Colombia, the top foreign supplier of flowers to the U.S. The bloom industry... http://www.bloomberg.com/

Flowers: Moms are more popular than sweethearts

The rush to make Mom feel loved with fresh, fragrant blooms has New York florist John Kromidas hiring three extra workers and keeping his Lexington Flower Shop open longer. “This time of year, everything goes,” Kromidas said as he cut roses on Wednesday at his midtown Manhattan store. “Every mom has a favorite flower. The best sellers are peonies and lilacs this year. Orchids are also popular, and that’s something that’s come to the market in the past five years.” Americans, loving and/or guilt-ridden, will spend about $3.9 billion on fresh-cut and potted indoor flowers for the holiday, said Tom Prince, the president of Columbus, Ohio-based Prince & Prince Inc., which has been tracking the market for more than two decades. That’s the highest since at least 1996 and compares with $3.6 billion in 2013, the last year the firm ran the survey. “Spending for Mother’s Day has been bumping lower and higher for the past few years, but has recovered a bit since falling after the recession in 2008,” he said. “Floral spending is highly discretionary.” This year, prices for popular bouquets “have essentially remained the same” compared with 2014, Amy Toosley, director of public relations for Downers Grove, Illinois-based FTD Companies Inc., which includes Proflowers, said in an e-mail. For Mother’s Day, celebrated on May 10 this year, Americans on average will spend $172.63 on flowers, jewelry and other gifts, including … greeting cards, the Washington-based National Retail Federation estimates. That’s almost $10 more than last year. Whether you pick a carnation or a hydrangea, mom’s present will probably come from California, Ecuador or Colombia, the top foreign supplier of flowers to the U.S. The bloom industry has turned the Bogota airport into the Latin America’s “foremost air-cargo handler,” with 200,000 metric tons in annual airfreight, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a February ... http://www.detroitnews.co