THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9501310096
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Business
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
DEBI JONES WORKED for a time as a florist at the Smithfield Farm Fresh. That's when she noticed that some people want flowers but don't want to buy them. They want to rent them.
``The grocery store used to rent candelabras but not plants,'' Jones says. ``But people were always coming in and asking about renting arrangements. No other floral shop around here does this, . . . and people want it.''
So when the opportunity came along recently, Jones decided she would give these people what they want.
The business is Smithfield Flower Shop, which Jones, 36, and Rita Marade, 31, opened Jan. 23 at 938 S. Church St. Although they run the store, they have a third, silent partner: Natale Carollo, owner of Anna's Pizza.
The store's concept is simple: Instead of paying for silk flower arrangements that clients don't often need, they can rent them overnight - at about half the cost of buying them, Jones says. She sees her principal customers as, for example, the increasing number of people going into second marriages, who are more interested in saving money than sentimental bouquets, and other people and organizations who often decorate with flowers.
``I think it will help us attract customers because it saves them money,'' Jones says.
Smithfield Flower Shop is a one-stop gift shop, carrying an array of fresh and silk flowers, plants, balloons and candies, Marade says. The shop also makes wreaths and bouquets to order, delivers throughout Hampton Roads and caters floral arrangements for weddings, meetings and parties.
``We carry a little bit of everything for everybody,'' Marade says.
She and Jones became friends while working at Anna's Pizza, where Marade has been a manager and Jones was a part-time waitress for 14 years. Until she left two years ago, Jones also had spent a decade designing and selling flowers for Farm Fresh.
``I would rather be making money for myself,'' Jones says.
So when she was laid off from Gwaltney Motor Co. last year, she and Marade took advantage of the opportunity to pursue their professional dream.
``Smithfield is growing,'' Marade says. ``I think this town can use another florist.''
Getting the shop ready to open became a family affair, they say. For the past six months, Marade's husband, Angelo, and Jones' fiance, Mike Olsavicky, spent long hours buffing floors, wallpapering and installing a bubbling water fountain for last week's opening.
``It will be worth it,'' Marade says. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Debbie Jones is one of the owners of Smithfield Flower Shop, which
rents silk flower arrangements.
by CNB