Midtown Florist

Barry never planned to be in the flower business. With a bachelor's in accounting and 22 years as an independent salesman selling greeting cards, he bought Midtown Florist as a business opportunity, not a passion project. What he found was a 65-year-old downtown Brooklyn institution with room to grow into something special.

So he did what any former salesman would do: focused on efficiency and customer satisfaction. Today, Midtown Florist operates like a fine-tuned machine, with a close-knit team of four people who know this business inside and out.

The Business Behind the Blooms

"I studied accounting for four years and never went into it," Barry says. After two decades in sales, which taught him to build customer loyalty through genuine service, he saw potential in this downtown Brooklyn shop. Not because he loved flowers particularly, but because he understood how to run a business well. The first year brought hard lessons: accepting orders from every wire service meant sending drivers to Manhattan twice daily for $60 arrangements that Manhattan florists wouldn't touch. The shop lost money learning that not every order is worth taking.

Now approaching 70, Barry has built something unique: a flower shop that operates with remarkable efficiency. "We can handle volume and make sure you're satisfied. If you want specialty flowers like ranunculus, peonies, or lilacs, my suppliers can get those too. But mostly it's roses, Gerber daisies, and lilies, delivered faster than people expect."

How a Small Team Does Big Things

Our floral manager has been with us for 20 years, starting from the very beginning and now running all flower operations. He checks arrangements constantly, refreshing displays every few days to maintain quality. Our designer handles big projects too, from wedding chuppahs to balloon towers, managing nearby deliveries on foot, and orchestrating complex event setups.

The whole team moves like clockwork. Take the Orthodox Jewish wedding we handled: 25 centerpieces, personal bouquets, metal separation screens, and a chuppah. The venue's freight elevator fit just one person and a food cart. Setup took five hours; breakdown after midnight took 10 minutes. The venue manager couldn't believe such a small team pulled it off.

Stories from the Shop

Every business has its memorable moments, and ours tend to involve saving the day with very little notice. Take the graduation someone forgot to order flowers for - they called us at 10 am in a complete panic, needing six window boxes and multiple vase arrangements by 3 pm. We had everything ready with time to spare. The relief in their voice when we said "no problem" reminded us why we do this: because life happens fast, and flowers shouldn't be the thing that stresses you out.

Barry likes to tell people about the customer who now sends flowers for every family occasion, all because we stayed open late one Sunday when she needed something special. After 22 years in sales, he knows that one good experience creates customers for life. That philosophy drives everything we do here.

Why We Do What We Do

We're open Sundays when other flower shops aren't, serving Brooklyn when options are limited. We close Saturdays for Sabbath observance, a practice our customers have come to respect and plan around.

Barry learned from decades in sales: make customers happy and they become customers for life. In a world of online ordering and big-box stores, we remain stubbornly personal. No fancy social media presence, no corporate backing. Just reliable service, quality flowers, and the promise that if you're not happy, we'll make it right.

We're a small shop doing big things in downtown Brooklyn, one arrangement at a time.