Three generations say it with flowers Three generations say it with flowers (April 25, 2001)

Family's Menlo Florist shop reopens after fire

By Bud Wendell

Confronted by many challenges, three generations of the Aldrich family, owners of Menlo Florist, have combined to make one of the oldest businesses on Menlo Park's Santa Cruz Avenue an enduring success.

Leigh and Lillian Aldrich opened the shop at 811 Santa Cruz Ave. in 1952. Six years later, they moved to 807 Santa Cruz, and then in 1962 they bought and moved to the building at 780 Santa Cruz. In 1986, they sold the business to their son Allan and his wife Leslie, who operate it.

Mother Lillian, 80, still travels 90 miles round trip once a week from her home in Santa Cruz to do the bookkeeping. Granddaughter April, age 18 and a senior at Menlo-Atherton High School, helps with flower arrangements during school breaks and summer vacations. She's off to college this fall.

The challenges they've met include competition from other small flower shops, the entry of big grocery stores into the flower business, a devastating fire last year, and "frustrating delays" with the city's permitting process to reopen the store this month.

According to Allan Aldrich, there was one other flower shop, named LumToy, when his father founded Menlo Florist 49 years ago. Several shops were opened later. Today, there are three other Menlo Park flower shops, and dozens more in the immediate area to provide plenty of competition.

"Shops come and go," he says. "Grocery stores, including Safeway, Draeger's and Trader Joe's, are now big competitors, but we've succeeded, because we found our niche. You have to decide what you're good at."

Menlo Florist's specialties, he points out, are the "everyday things like anniversaries, birthdays, and illnesses." Menlo Florist doesn't do a lot of party decorations or big weddings. "We're in the middle range. We do the whole line, from births to funerals." Flowers make up 85 percent of the business; gift items, the rest.

One of the factors in the success of his business, Mr. Aldrich says, is service, "which grocery stores don't provide." Menlo Florist delivers locally and sends flower orders for its customers through an Internet service, Teleflora, to other shops in the United States and abroad, which deliver them.

"Grocery stores are a convenience flower business. Pick them up in a hurry and you're gone," he says. But if you want something custom-made and delivered, that's where we come in."

Menlo Florist employs two flower designers, trained to make flower arrangements" Kris Kirk of Menlo Park, who has been there for 10 years; and Svetlana McCreary, a Russian, who has been working there over a year and hopes to become a U.S. citizen soon.

Mr. Aldrich says the shop sells 15 kinds of plants, 40 to 50 varieties of cut flowers, and six to seven types of roses. "Our flowers come from all over the world. Flowers that used to be seasonable, we can offer any day during the year. Iris, for example, that used to be available only in the spring, are available all the time." A lot of the roses come from South America.

The shop delivers six days a week, Monday through Saturday. The normal delivery range for truck driver Larry Hana, an employee for five years, is from Palo Alto to Woodside, to the northern boundary of Redwood City, and to the Dumbarton Bridge. There is a $6.50 to $7.50 delivery charge within this area, and $15 beyond. Normally, there are about two-dozen deliveries a day.

Perhaps, Menlo Florist's most serious challenge occurred on June 26, 2000, just after the close of business. Roofers were finishing up the installation of a new roof on the Aldrich's building, when a blowtorch, used to melt adhesive, apparently touched off a fire. The subsequent smoke and water damage put Menlo Florist out of business for 10 months, and caused smoke and water damage for the two building tenants, Ann's Coffee Shop and Moses Hair Styling.

"It took a lot of time to rebuild our store, including getting a permit from the city of Menlo Park," Mr. Aldrich says with a sigh. "It seemed like everything took twice as long as it should. Menlo Park's permits are among the most expensive ones in the area, and it's really hard to get them."

But the Aldrich's persevered and reopened the store two weeks ago. Loyal customers returned. One was Patricia O'Connor of Atherton, who says: "I've been praying and watching for Menlo Florist to return. It (the fire) broke my heart. I've been patronizing the store for five years. I come here, because of the service, efficiency and beautiful selection. And they are always so charming and nice. It's like family." She hugged Leslie Aldrich.

"It's been heartwarming," Mr. Aldrich explains," to have customers call or come in and tell us "we're glad you reopened after the fire."

Mr. Aldrich says that his customers are "regular people from up and down the Peninsula. We have a base of longtime customers, some from the first day we opened."

Another customer interviewed by the Almanac is Mandy Rowe of Palo Alto. "I come here, because I like the service. I can ask them to send something out and it goes out right away. This is my first time back. I didn't know they had reopened."

There are three big occasions during the year for flowers, Mr. Aldrich explains. "Christmas for a whole month, Mother's Day for about a week and a half, and two days before Valentine's Day when roses are a big item. At Christmas, we're working with a lot of greens. Mother's Day, it's mostly mixed, spring-type flowers. Easter is kind of disappearing as a holiday for flowers, especially when it falls at tax time. Secretaries Day is also declining as a holiday, because people want to be called administrative assistants."

Menlo Florist's main trading area is Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Portola Valley and Redwood City. More than half of the business is done by telephone. Mr. Aldrich says that he's getting more business these days from Palo Alto and Los Altos, where several flower shops have recently closed.

Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich work full-time at the shop. He buys the flowers; she buys the plants. They split giftware buying. Until recently, they went to the flower market to buy flowers and plants. Now, they purchase from a truck that delivers to flower stores.

"Our suppliers know what we want," he says. "It's like buying a suit of clothes. You get fitted. The salesman knows what you want when you go back again."

What are customers looking for? Most customers know what they want for an occasion they have in mind, Mr. Aldrich answers. "We help them. But we have one customer who comes in every other week and wants three gladiolas, one white rose, and a couple of other types of flowers for his wife."

For customers who aren't sure what they want, the store has a number of flower arrangements made up every day. "They can look at what we have, say this is what I want, take it with them, or we'll deliver it.

Mr. Aldrich grew up in Menlo Park after the age of 6 when his family moved here from Cupertino. He attended City College of San Francisco to get his associate arts degree in retail floristry. Following that, he graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo to earn a bachelor of science degree in ornamental horticulture and worked in the family flower business for 20 years. He started in the sixth grade making cardboard boxes to deliver flowers.

"My brother and I made enough money to go to the Saturday-matinee movies for 25 cents."

He took over the business in 1986, when his father retired because of illness.

Mrs. Aldrich was born in San Francisco, grew up in San Mateo, and went to San Mateo College and the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied art. She is continuing her studies at night to get an associate degree in floristry.

Menlo Florist hires students from Menlo-Atherton High School for part-time jobs, and it has cooperated with Foothills College to employ a European exchange student for summer work. Menlo Florist's contributions to the community include advertising in school publications and donations of flowers for community events.

Is being a florist just arranging and selling flowers? No, as Mr. Aldrich told another reporter some years ago, "I'm in the emotion business."