129-Year-Old Little Neck Florist Reveals Keys To Success: Report

LITTLE NECK, QUEENS — A Little Neck flower shop revealed the key to its 129-years of business success.

Cress Floral Decorators, a floral decor business located at 248-02 Northern Boulevard, got its start as a flower-selling pushcart in Manhattan in 1903, and now specializes in floral arrangements for events and weddings.

Lori Cress, who runs the florist with her husband Tom (his grandfather was behind the pushcart), told The City that the family-owned business has survived this long by persevering through hard times — multiple recessions, Hurricane Sandy, and the pandemic among them.

"You take a deep breath and do what you have to do," she told the site, as part of its investigation into some of the city's centenarian businesses.

When facing economic recessions — first in the early 1980s, and then in 2008 — the family did all they could to make ends meet: they downsized to a single Little Neck store (where they still are located), and Cress got a second job at Bloomingdale's, The City reported.

The pandemic, however, was a "whole different story," she told the site. People cancelled weddings after Hurricane Sandy, she said, but recurrent postponements became the norm during the pandemic.

At peak wedding season last year, the florist had as many weddings in a month as they usually see in a single weekend, according to The City.

Cress is looking forward to this year and next; having "tons and tons and tons" of weddings scheduled brings her hope, and she can't wait to be a part of peoples' celebrations once more.

"When my bride hugs me and kisses me and the moms tell me how beautiful everything is," that keeps me going, Cress tearfully told The City.

Read the full article 'New York’s 100-Year-Old Businesses Offer Lessons in Survival' here.