OP_102016

More documents

Recommendations

Info

22 | October 20, 2016 | The orland park prairie Life & Arts opprairie.com Local flower shop celebrates 100 years of business Mitchell’s has stayed family owned over multiple locations Brittany Kapa, Assistant Editor Mitchell’s Flowers & Events has been a family owned business for the past 100 years, and owner George Mitchell hopes to keep it that way. Surrounded by his children — Dan, David and Patty — David’s wife, Megan; George’s wife, Nancy; and his grandson, Lucas; the Mitchell clan recounted the shop’s growth since being in business, and how the age of technology has influenced the business model. The Mitchells celebrated their family’s success with an open house Saturday, Oct. 15. Surrounded by family and friends, the Mitchell family welcomed the public to its Orland Park location, 14309 S. Beacon, with roses, refreshments and goodies. That location, in particular, has been in business for 43 years as of September 2016. But the earliest business license the Mitchells could find puts the opening of the legacy in 1916. Since then, it has seen multiple location shifts, but a Mitchell always has remained at the head of the company. The family now splits its time between the remaining Orland Park and Hinsdale stores. George Mitchell, in particular, started working in his family’s flower shop when he was just 8 years old, and his children were not much older than him when they started, as well. The family’s patriarch, Christos Mitchell, hailed from Greece and moved to the United States after war broke out in his home country. From humble beginnings “Our hope is to have the business grow and service the community. ... We want to continue to be a first class family florist.” George Mitchell — owner of Mitchell’s Flowers & Events, on his hopes for his family’s 100-year-old business going forward and dreams of wanting to make something of himself, Christos built the business up from the ground. The rest, as they say, is history. Business, 100 years later The shop today provides flowers for every occasion, from weddings, birthdays and funerals to homecoming and prom corsages and boutonnieres. During the most recent homecoming season, each shop did 125 arrangements, with many orders being placed the day of the events, which the store worked to fill despite the short time frame. While the Mitchells employ roughly 15 employees outside of their family, the heart and soul of the company is largely a family operation. Dan works alongside his father as a designer. David handles the accounting side of the business. Nancy, Patty and Megan all help with day-to-day tasks. While the business in Mitchell family members (left to right) Megan Mitchell, Nancy Mitchell, David Mitchell, George Mitchell, Dan Mitchell, and Patty Watne pose for a photo inside Mitchell’s Flowers & Events in Orland Park, which is celebrating 100 years in business. Brittany Kapa/22nd Century Media the past seemed recessionproof, the last recession hit the business harder than expected, and the family is still trying to bring the business back up to speed. “Until that last recession, we were somewhat recession-proof, but this last time, yeah, we were affected,” George said. Part of what is bringing them out of the recession is not only wedding shows but also the online side of the business. In 2003, Mitchell’s opened its online shop, and David said the business now gets approximately 40 percent of its customer base through website traffic. While only 15 percent of the shop’s orders are done solely through the website, Mitchell’s has a large contingent of people who will call in after browsing the website. “Customers are more particular, because they see a picture,” David said. “Back in the olden days ... before you had [the Internet], people would call up and say, ‘I would like to send flowers to my mom for her birthday. Could you do something for $50, and something nice for a woman.’” Patty continued, “They would trust that you were professionals, and now it’s much more, ‘I want what I see.’” The challenge Mitchell’s faces now is to educate its customers on what flowers are obtainable for that season. Stock photos are used on the website, which provides a great visual but does not always translate to the season. But they said they keep an open dialogue from the beginning of an order to the end. The staff at Mitchell’s makes sure customers know what they are be receiving before they even place the order. A friendly reminder This type of customer service has translated into a successful business model, and after 100 years Mitchell’s is seeing generational celebrations. They have noticed that families in the area are loyal to the shop, and part of that loyalty comes with a gentle reminder every year. “There are a fair amount of customers that really appreciate that reminder, and usually they forget the day of and call us asking if we can still do it, and we do,” David said. “That’s the best part of our business.” Reminder cards, with a 15 percent discount, are sent to customers a year after they’ve bought an arrangement for an anniversary, or birthday. It is the store’s way of helping its clients stay on top of special events, even when life gets busy. “We have one family in town that has four or five daughters that will send flowers to the mom [for her birthday], and they all call us,” David said. “When the mom needs stuff, she calls us, and we sent it out around the country. One of the sisters lives in Alaska.” With regards to the future, the family does not plan on changing what works for the business. “Our hope is to have the business grow and service the community,” George said. “I don’t think you can be only so big, but yet you want to keep your reputation. We want to continue to be a first class family florist. Hopefully, for the 125th ...” Nancy finished her husband’s sentence with a chuckle, “...we’ll still be here.”
opprairie.com Life & Arts the orland park prairie | October 20, 2016 | 23 Orland resident, celebs support police, fire Oct. 22 basketball game to raise funds of Illinois Fire Chiefs Foundation Jon DePaolis Freelance Reporter Orland Park resident Frank Pulciani knows how to bring people together for a good cause. The retired Cook County Sheriff’s Office investigator has been organizing celebrity basketball games for charities for the past 30 years, utilizing his talents as a Second City graduate and his network of Chicago sports stars to raise money for police and firefighters. Roughly one year ago, Pulciani was contacted to help organize another game. “I was contacted about a year ago by Tim Sashko, who is the [executive director] of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association,” Pulciani said. “A branch of their organization is the Illinois Fire Chiefs Foundation, which strictly runs scholarship programs for firefighters.” During the conversation, Pulciani heard previously the organization relied on golf outings for its annual fundraiser. But attendance had started to thin. “They pay a lot of money out in scholarships,” he said. “They had about 160 applicants last year, and out of those they paid out 90 recipients and almost $88,000 in scholarship money.” Since 1982, when the foundation was started, Pulciani said the IFC Foundation has paid out more than $1.7 million in scholarship money for firefighter training. To help the foundation, Pulciani has organized a celebrity basketball game from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at Glenbard East High School in Lombard. Proceeds will benefit the foundation. “The way the scholarship works is that any firefighter in the state of Illinois can apply for two of their courses and additional training, and once they get this money for those classes, then they are approved by the state fire marshal,” he said. Glenbard East was chosen because D’Wayne Bates — a former Chicago Bears wide receiver and a frequent member of Pulciani’s celebrity basketball teams — is the athletic director at the school. “D’Wayne has been instrumental in helping, along with the players I’ve got, like Chico Walker of the Cubs,” Pulciani said. Members of the Chicago Bliss women’s football team will also play, such as running back ChrisDell Harris and defensive end Yashi Rice. “We’ve got some good players, and we’re going to have some fun,” he said. “We’re going to have a roster of about eight or nine celebrities, and then the fire chiefs will have their own team. I know the fire chiefs from Bensenville and Lombard are playing. “People can expect to get some autographs from some of the sports celebrities of Chicago.” For Pulciani, who is a screen actor and has appeared in the television show “The Capones,” community service has always been in his blood. “I started working in high school with the Chicago patrolmen’s association of Frank Pulciani (left), of Orland Park, and Chico Walker, a former Cubs player, stand by one of the benches in front of the Tinley Park firehouse. Walker is to take part Oct. 22 in a celebrity basketball game organized by Pulciani. Photos by Mary Compton/22nd Century Media “We’ve got some good players, and we’re going to have some fun. We’re going to have a roster of about eight or nine celebrities, and then the fire chiefs will have their own team.” Frank Pulciani — Orland Park resident, on the Oct. 22 celebrity basketball game he organized to raise money for firefighters the American Police Center & Museum, which I helped build,” he said. Since then, he has done countless fundraisers for local fraternal orders of police and firefighter associations. “I’ve been doing these games for quite some time,” he said. Tickets are $15 for the Oct. 22 game, and children Frank Pulciani takes a phone call regarding the celebrity basketball game he has organized. 6 and younger are free. For more information, call (630) 592-9646 or visit www.eventbrite.com/e/fire fighters-challenge-vs-ce lebrity-charity-basketballgame-tickets-27733016198. If people cannot attend, they can make a donation directly to the IFC Foundation.
Page 2 and 3: 2 | October 20, 2016 | The orland p
Page 10 and 11: 10 | October 20, 2016 | The orland
Page 56: Orland Park’s Hometown Newspaper

OP_102016

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?