SPRING IS IN THE AIR

S

pring The Growth Co. is both a florist and garden center. The family-owned business at 167 Hazard Ave. in Enfield is a full-service florist business inside and a garden center outside. Owner Tony Scussel said it is the best of both worlds for their customers, offering year-round flowers of all kinds. “We are very seasonal,” he said, “with May and December being our busiest months.” In December, the business is three-fold: holiday is in the airdecorations, Christmas trees and flower deliveries. “We started out trying to sell just 10 Christmas trees and that turned into 20 and before we knew it, we were selling 400,” Tony said. “But our biggest time is spring and Mother’s Day.”

With Easter and Mother’s Day so close this year, Tony expects The Growth Co. will be extra busy, especially with more and more people growing their own vegetables. He said since COVID-19, more customers than ever have taken to their gardens.

“A lot of people were home more and were able to spend time on their gardens and wanted their homes to look beautiful,” he said. “And a lot of people began growing vegetables.”

With food prices climbing, Tony said he expects the need for starter vegetables will soar this year.

“A lot of people are getting seeds, too, and building small hothouses in their yards.”

The Growth Co. has everything for home gardeners to make their own “garden to table” meals. From seeds to starters, they have numerous vegetables and herbs as well as flowers, shrubs and more.

“Hanging baskets are always popular,” Tony added.

“For Easter we will have bulbs, hyacinths and daffodils and then we will go right into Mother’s Day with hanging baskets and a variety of plants.”

The Growth Co. has something for every season, including pumpkins and mums in fall and their popular metal garden art pieces.

“We started with the painted metal pieces 11 years ago,” said Tony. “We go to Laredo, Texas and bring back chimineas, plant stands and these beautiful painted metal pieces that people love.”

The Growth Co. evolved from a string of flower shops started in 1976 when Anthony Scussel opened one flower shop with a business partner in a mall.

Anthony had been a floral designer at the Stafford Conservatory who wanted to do something of his own. The mall-florist formula worked and he and his partner eventually had eight locations. When Anthony again wanted to do something different, he and his partner split the business and Anthony branched out into the garden center.

Anthony’s wife Roseann helped with the business and their son Tony became their partner, but reluctantly at first.

“I went to college for business and I wanted nothing to do with the flower business,” said Tony. “I still remember the day it happened.”

Tony recalled a freezing cold day when his father needed help selling Christmas trees.

“I did not want to help,” said Tony, who had the idea to sell plants at flea markets to make extra money to buy his first house after he was married. He planned to sell plants and bring anything leftover to his parent’s shop. But that Christmas changed his plans.

That cold day led Tony on his destined path in the family business.

“It was Christmas trees and Beanie Babies,” he said. “That spring I helped out a bit more and we were introduced to Beanie Babies and they took off and dad needed me fulltime.”

That was 1995 and he is now a partner, running the daily business alongside his father.

“He is 79 and still comes to work every day,” said Tony. “My mom is younger – 78 – and doesn’t come in as often.”

Tony’s nephew William Haag had a similar, accidental path.

“His mom asked if he could come work for a few weeks one summer and he never left,” Tony recalled. “That was 14 years ago.”

Together, the family meets the needs of their customers, whether they need a simple bouquet delivered, extravagant floral wedding pieces or tomato plants and hosta.

The Growth Co., 167 Hazard Ave. in Enfield, is open 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.