Anya Geist, Contributing Photographer

The walls of the Blossom Shop on Orange Street are covered with shelves of plants — orchids, succulents, ivies. The back of the store houses the flower cooler, where fresh flowers used for arrangements are stored, and the space for the store’s designers to create arrangements and bouquets.

Blossom is owned by John LoRicco, 66, who bought the shop and moved it to its current Orange Street location in 2007 from Hamden. Blossom sells plants and flower arrangements, along with chocolates and truffles. 

“I like meeting people and seeing repeat customers… That’s encouraging,” LoRicco said.

LoRicco has a long history with Blossom — his mother owned it when he was in his twenties, and he would sometimes help her with deliveries, though she ultimately sold the shop.

He has always enjoyed gardening and landscaping, and owning Blossom allows him to merge that joy with the experience of owning a business. In 1984, LoRicco co-opened the New Haven clothing store Raggs, and in the following decades, he also opened an American restaurant and a nightclub that are no longer in business.

He believes it is important to keep costs down and think about the long-term stability of the flower shop. Demand does not stay constant — Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are the busiest times at Blossom. During those weeks, the shop sends out around 30 orders per day, Lo Ricco said, instead of its usual 10 to 15.

“That’s what I need, that volume… to carry us through the summer,” LoRicco said. That way, he can run the shop throughout the summer without cutting back on the number of workers.

Even with the holiday rush, LoRicco tries to minimize year-round costs and waste. And there are many hidden costs to owning a flower shop, he said. 

While there are the standard fixed costs of rent, electricity and parking for employees, and the cost of having fresh flowers regularly delivered to the shop, Blossom also needs to have vases to arrange the flowers in, along with ribbons and tissue paper to wrap bouquets.

He tells his staff to not overbuy material, including flowers, so they can make the most of what they have in the store — flowers have a limited shelf life, after all. If they aren’t sold in time, LoRicco will put them outside the store, for passersby to take for free.

LoRicco believes that giving customers a great experience is crucial to sales.

Emily Bissette was sitting in a cafe across the street when she noticed Blossom. 

“The window displays are what kind of drew me in, and they have a really good variety [of plants],” she said.

Looking for pet-friendly plants, she appreciated Blossom’s many options and reasonable pricing and ended up buying a couple of plants.

Successful customer experiences like these are guided by LoRicco’s previous experiences in retail. He recalled implementing the same type of positive approaches to customer relations in his previous businesses, despite having a completely different audience.

In addition to interacting with customers, LoRicco values being in charge of his job at Blossom. “I like working for myself, calling my own shots and investing in myself,” he said. 

In his previous businesses, at Raggs, the restaurant and the nightclub, LoRicco had partners. But they didn’t always work well together, he said, and had different visions for the businesses. At Blossom, he doesn’t need to worry about that.

This doesn’t mean LoRicco does his job without help, though. He values his staff, feeling like they understand each other and work well together. In particular, he works well with Nick Yukash, 70, who operates the shop’s phone and email and handles orders, including those placed via their website. 

“[LoRicco and I] know where our backbone is,” Yukash said. “We have a solid friendship and a good business relationship.”

While Yukash handles communications for the shop, LoRicco does a lot of day-to-day maintenance — changing out plants in the shop, sometimes doing deliveries. He also does a lot of miscellaneous work, including sweeping and cleaning out the flower cooler clean and taking out the garbage every day. 

LoRicco felt this same control when he worked in gardening. He previously worked at a greenhouse center and as a landscaper, during which time he gained many of his botany skills.

“When I was out there at a house by myself, with the plants, I felt like, this is nice,” he said. “This is where I want to be, making my own decisions.”

LoRicco doesn’t plan to stop working at Blossom any time soon, but he does think about the future of the shop. 

He hopes to pass on the business to his daughter-in-law, who works part-time at Blossom, but as of now, he remains the sole owner.

“That end of the business, nobody wants it,” LoRicco said. “It scares me.” 

The Blossom Shop is located at 138 Orange St.