Florist Hopes 'Tis a Blooming Season

By Dave Mock

You pull up in front of Petite II Florists one Sunday afternoon, wanting to get something special for your girlfriend, though she's not yet your girlfriend. You don't want to give her an arrangement too obvious (like a dozen red roses), but you want to make it something special. You don't want to spend too much, but you want to make her feel she's worth a million bucks.

And to top off your nervousness, you don't know your hydrangeas from your hemlocks.

But staff member Pat Dervin gauges what you need and how much you'd pay. He then comes up with a rose bouquet of different colors, and wraps it up with a small water sack at the end that keeps it fresh until you give her the flowers six hours later. The cost? No more than $30. And the smile of appreciation on her face makes you feel it was worth every penny.

"The good thing with us is that we have something for everybody," smiles Denis Mouzakes, proprietor of Petite II Florists, which is entering its 25th year in Levittown and its 15th in its current storefront at 3268 Hempstead Tpke. in the King Kullen Shopping Center.

As Mouzakes says this on Monday afternoon, a dozen poinsettias are arranged across from him in his shop as sure a sign of Christmas as the tree at EAB Plaza (or Rockefeller Center). Mouzakes says he made sure before Thanksgiving not to order too many, though they're in demand this time of year. After all, flowers are perishables, and a slow season would leave him with a lot of no-good product if he ordered too many.

Brisk as Mouzakes hopes the Christmas season will be for business, it's hardly the biggest season of the year at Petite II. For him and his five-person Levittown staff (he employs four others at his other shop in Bellmore), D-Day is St. Valentine's Day. Mother's Day is also an especially busy period

"With any major holiday, there's two, three weeks preparation, getting boxes in, ordering," Mouzakes said. Ordering, especially dealing with wholesalers and evaluating who'll give him the right price, is a major element of the job, taking up most of the time Mouzakes isn't already devoting to helping customers.

At age 60, Mouzakes still loves his profession. He became a florist at age 17, understudying with his father (with whom he opened a store in Merrick). Later, he worked at shops in Garden City and Great Neck, and eventually taking over the Petite Florist in Bellmore in 1967.

"My main concern is the customer," he said, pointing out that his advantage as a local merchant is the personalized attention he aims to provide. He added that although he appreciates the return business, he's especially thrilled when the phone rings with a new customer.

Mouzakes added that it helps that his staff also provides a high level of floral knowledge, especially since a good portion of customers are unsure when they come in the door what type of flower they want to order. For the first-timer, Petite II Florists has arrangements spanning the price spectrum, whether one wants to spend $22 or $70. It depends on what the customer wants to spend.

In recent years, the old standbys of roses, mums, tulips and carnations have been joined by exotic types of flowers, such as stargazers. One difference Mouzakes notices between his early days in the business and now, is that there are few wholesalers in New York because of the cost of doing business here. Most of his flowers and plants come from New Jersey, California, or as far away as Ecuador and Colombia.

After nearly a quarter century in Levittown, Mouzakes says Petite II Florists has been blessed with good business. He says it's partly due to the reputation of his staff -- Petite is even recommended by a list of funeral homes, a consistent source of business -- and his location in a shopping center that provides interrelated businesses. (They include a bakery, wine and liquor store, deli, card store, cleaner and clothing store.)

As for this holiday season, Mouzakes and his staff isn't making predictions. All that concerns them is making sure they have good product for their many customers.

"Is this going to be a good Christmas?" Mouzakes asked rhetorically. "We hope it is."