Time to Smell the Flowers at New Shop

Time to Smell the Flowers at New Shop

Susan Vicidomini (right) owner of the new Petronella Flowers and Gifts on Federal Street (across the street from her father’s Teddy’s Pizza) made a special delivery to Amanda Shirlkey of the Upper Crust bakery from her husband Robert, on the occasion of their 16th anniversary.

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

By Leonard Shapiro

It was Valentine’s Day, 2012, and 20-year-old Susan Vicidomini fell in love.

She was helping out in her father’s pizza emporium—the iconic Teddy’s Pizza in Middleburg—when Geraldine “Gerry” Chittick, the proprietor of the Middleburg Floral Gallery right across Federal Street, came over for a quick lunch on one of her busiest days of the year, made even more frenetic because she had no help.

“Gerry said, ‘why don’t you just come over and learn how to do flowers,’” Susan recalled. “I went over that day and I just fell in love with it right away.”

Now, a dozen years later, Vicidomini has that flower shop all to herself. Gerry retired in May after nearly four decades, and sold the business to her long ago Valentine’s Day helper.

The shop is now called Petronella Flowers and Gifts. Petronella is Susan’s middle name, and the first name of her great grandmother on her mother’s side, as well. There was a soft store opening on June 15, with something a tad grander later on this month. Still, the orders via telefloral and bloomnet and over the counter have been coming in ever since.

Susan worked with Gerry for three years. Then, striving to “expand my knowledge,” she moved on to a larger shop in Burke, Virginia that specialized in big events, including weddings. She spent much of her time there learning more about arranging flowers, which she still does with great skill. Then

Photo by Leonard Shapiro Susan Vicidomini (right) owner of the new Petronella Flowers and Gifts on Federal Street (across the street from her father’s Teddy’s Pizza) made a special delivery to Amanda Shirlkey of the Upper Crust bakery from her husband Robert, on the occasion of their 16th anniversary.

she left after two years to learn more about the business side of the flower industry.

She was offered a job as floral manager for the HarrisTeeter store in Warrenton before being transferred to run the same department at its Chantilly location. All the while, she also was telling her entrepreneurial boyfriend and now fiancè, Nathan Wolff, about her dream of someday opening up her own flower shop.

“Last April, he heard me say that this (Middleburg) place was up for sale and Gerry was retiring,” Susan said. “Then he called me one morning and said we were going to meet the landlord about renting the building. We just rolled with it from there.”

The biggest challenge, she said, “Is getting it set up perfectly the way I want it to look. Starting from scratch is a big project.” She’s also pregnant and due in November, definitely another big project.

And Middleburg’s favorite flower?

“I’d say lilies,” Susan answered quickly. “I think it was one of Gerry’s favorites, too. And you can’t go wrong with roses.”

Getting the word out about her new business is easy as (pizza) pie. Her loquacious father Teddy, a Brooklyn native with the colorful accent to prove it, “has been my personal newspaper ad, at the moment,” Susan said. “He knows everybody, and he tells everybody.”

Susan actually began her business career as a teenager helping out at Teddy’s, which remains a true family affair, with Teddy’s wife, brother and mother still working in the restaurant. She loved it there, and one thing hasn’t changed—her dad still provides a free lunch.

Even better, especially now that she owns her own shop right across the street, “I love the smell of flowers.”

And probably pepperoni, too.