Adrian Durban buys Artistry in Flowers by Rachel Melcer, rmelcer@bixjournals.com.
Kerry Durban, CEO of Adrian Durban Florist, was surprised by how quickly his seed of an idea about expanding into the east side blossomed.
It was all a matter of being in the right place at the right time, with a flower supplier who just happened to know that Artistry in Flowers owner Margo Middlemas was looking to sell. I called her around March 30, and now we own it; Durban said. To be honest, I wasnt looking for this location at all. It was just an opportunity that I couldnt pass up.
The shop in Hyde Park on Observatory Avenue is the fourth for the 103-year-old, family-run chain. Adrian Durban Florist has its headquarters store in Blue Ash, with branches in Clifton and Symmes Township.
Durban said he had a wish list of other places where he would like to open stores - the east side, Northern Kentucky and West Chester. But he wasnt actively pursuing any options, in part because he recently consolidated administrative and phone-order services into the Blue Ash location and invested in improving Adrian Durbans Web site, www.adflorist.com.
But Artistry in Flowers (now renamed as an Adrian Durban Florist store) was an ideal opportunity, Durban said, because Middlemas is remaining to manage it. She will also continue to design flowers for weddings, an area that had been her specialty and which attracts a clientele all its own. It should add to our wedding business substantially, Durban said.
Middlemas, who has been in the floral business since 1976, bought the shop in 1996 but recently decided that the demands of ownership meant she had little time for her family. She said the Durban acquisition gives her the best of both worlds. I have had wonderful customers, a very loyal following. But things had to change. (Now) I will still be in the business which I love, but I wont have a lot of the stress that I had, Middlemas said.
The Hyde Park store will be redesigned with a larger front room, a lighter design room in back and computer systems that make ordering easier for repeat customers, Durban said.
(appearing in the Cincinnati Business Courier- May 10, 2002)
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