Business is Blooming
Rosemont Gardens helps customers add special touch to every occasion
April 2015
By Melissa George Bowman
Photography by Robert Fouts
A trip to Rosemont Gardens is definitely a treat for the senses. Vibrant floral arrangements, gourmet goodies and scented candles are just a few of many items greeting visitors. Beyond this oasis, in the offices a steady whir of machines processing orders and the constant motion of staff putting finishing touches on projects capture the business behind the beauty.
“The phones hardly ever stop and people never stop coming in, but that’s such a blessing,” said Rosemont Gardens manager Jerry Thrash.
Specializing in flowers, gifts, and home décor, Rosemont Gardens has been part of the Montgomery community since 1892. As the third generation of his family to work for the company, Thrash also has a history with Rosemont Gardens. Both his mother and grandmother were employees as well.
Rosemont Gardens’ sister companies include Montgomery-based Southern Homes and Gardens and Caffco International, which operates worldwide and supplies a variety of products to major home and garden stores across the globe. Thrash says one advantage Rosemont Gardens has over other floral and gift shops is that it is the only one in the area that carries Caffco products.
“We’re so proud to be affiliated with a company like Caffco,” he said. “It’s wonderful to be able to offer the Caffco product. It’s just such a great product.”
In addition to Caffco lines, Rosemont Gardens also carries an extensive selection of handbags, jewelry and home and garden items. What the store may be best known for, however, is its flowers.
“We’re a full-line florist,” Thrash said. “Our greenhouse is full of plants and we have experts on duty all the time to help people.”
Rosemont Gardens’ floral services include creating and delivering arrangements for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions as well as larger scale events such as memorial services and weddings. In fact, wedding consultation is a large portion of the company’s business.
“We can follow a wedding from conception to the end,” Thrash said. “We can take it from the date of the engagement to the actual wedding.”
Weddings are not the only times Rosemont Gardens’ expertise is in demand. Many River Region businesses hire the company to decorate offices for the holidays and other special events. The same services are also provided to private residences for parties and showers and especially during the holidays.
“We start going to residences in November and we are in people’s houses every day until about the 15th of December,” Thrash said.
One of those residences includes the Alabama governor’s mansion where for the past 10 years Rosemont Gardens has decorated the home’s Christmas tree.
Thrash says the holidays tend to be the busiest season for Rosemont Gardens because work begins as early as September and can last through mid-January. The single busiest day, however, is Mother’s Day because Thrash says it “encompasses everyone” and includes a variety of requests.
“On Mother’s Day we sell memorial flowers. We sell everyday flowers. We do corsages,” he said.
No matter the occasion, Rosemont Gardens has long been the go-to florist for many in the River Region. And for a company that is nearly 125 years old, it has had no trouble keeping up with the times. Even flowers have been impacted by the Digital Age. That is why Rosemont Gardens subscribes to FTD and Teleflora wire services, which allow the store to wire flowers all over the world 24/7. Rosemont Gardens has been so successful that it consistently ranks among the wire services’ top national accounts. In addition, the company website receives a significant amount of online traffic.
“Our website in particular has hugely broadened our client base,” Thrash said. “We get orders from all over the world.”
Closer to home, Rosemont Gardens also receives a large amount of business from people who enjoy experiencing the store’s colorful selections in person.
“What I love to do is take people into the cooler because we have a huge amount of flowers on a daily basis and people just love walking through there. They love the way it smells,” Thrash said. “They can hand pick what they want and then we’ll make it for them.”
According to Thrash, what inspires the staff at Rosemont Gardens are the customers they serve and being able to add something special to all the significant occasions of their lives – whether in times of celebration or when a sense of comfort is needed most.
“I love making people happy. I love more than anything to see a happy bride,” Thrash said. “You also talk with people in a memorial sense, too and when they can walk out with a smile on their face you know you’ve done a really good job.”
Hours
8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Monday-Saturday
Website
capitolsrosemont.com
facebook.com/rosemontgardensfloristandgiftshop
