Recent Press

Design Talents on Display at Congressional Reception

	DESIGN-TAINMENT Lisa Greene, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, of Nunan Florist in Georgetown, Ma., made use of myriad flowers, greens and accessories donated to create stunning floral designs before the hundreds of attendees of SAF's Congressional Reception.

New ethics regulations on Capitol Hill, including greater enforcement of gift rules meant that attendees of SAF's annual Congressional Reception, held Feb. 26, didn't leave with armloads of flowers as many have in the past. But the estimated 700 attendees nonetheless left the reception with flowers in hand as well as a new take on the design talent in the industry.

Congressional Action Days floral design chairman Jeff Corbin, AAF, PFCI, AIFD, from Radford City Florist, Inc. in Radford, Va., and his volunteer design team came up with a simple, yet elegant hand-tied bouquet that did not exceed the $10 retail limit imposed in the congressional gift rules. The bouquets were comprised of tulips, roses and other cut flowers, wrapped in tissue and with a ribbon and kept hydrated using Arrive Alive.

Attendees also got a taste of the beauty of the floral industry during the reception, as eight AIFD designers, flanking either side of the massive Cannon Caucus room, created arrangements on the spot (click here to see the designers in action). While the arrangements, whose value easily went above the $10 limit on gifts, could not be given away to congressional attendees, SAF coordinated an effort to give most of them to the local Meals on Wheels organization.

For a complete list of product donors as well as volunteers for Congressional Action Days, click here.

Check out the article on www.dailycandy.com

http://www.dailycandy.com/article.jsp?ArticleId=29804&city=7

Article in the January 2007 issue of Floral
Management Magazine featuring Lisa Greene

Have you seen the article in
North Shore Magazine?

North Shore Magazine featured Nunans in their Summer 2003 issue
with a picture taken in our nursery proudly displayed on the
front cover of the magazine!

Inside a comprehensive article covers over 5 pages
including several photographs.

Excerpt from article...

'There are a lot of other places on the North Shore where people
from the Tri-Town region could go for plants, but they appreciate that Nunans is
like an old-fashioned, family-run business and they recognize and appreciate
the quality of their products.' - Susan Bouchard-Dahl

Here is some of the article, by Judy Enright

Mother Nature has had more than her share of fun with us this year. It's April and although the calendar says it's spring, remember that T.S. Eliot wrote, "April is the cruelest month." April isn't winter, but in the Northeast it surely isn't spring either. Another storm has dumped several inches of white fluff, which quickly turned to muddy slush in the steady, freezing drizzle. The sky is that dull monotone gray that persists in deep winter. It's dull; it's depressing. Do your spirits need lifting? Head for Nunan Florist & Greenhouses, Inc. at 269 Central St. in Georgetown.

Stepping from the frigid parking lot into the showroom is like stepping from an iceberg onto a lush tropical island. For a second, the warmth takes your breath away. The cold, gray gloom is instantly dispelled by color that runs rampant everywhere. There are sizzling reds, brilliant yellows, and green, green, green. It's spring in here for sure and you've been transported to a warmer, friendlier world.

At Nunans, growing greenery is a sheer labor of love for Bill Guerrini and Steve Flynn, who have been business partners here since 1985.

Today, Nunans sells well over a million plants a year, Bill said, and employs about 35 people year-round including office workers and drivers for the florist shop.
The results since they took over are a credit to hard work and dedication, attention to the latest technological advances in horticulture and consistent product quality.

Susan Bouchard-Dahl, who has created a marketing program for Nunans, commented, "They do work hard but they also have an excellent product. That's why they're still here - and why they're still growing."

As the outside world becomes more and more frenetic, many have turned their focus toward their homes where they find solitude and comfort. Beautiful grounds and thriving plants help create an ambience as busy people find solace and peace in introspection and in focusing on their physical and mental well-being. There has been a real boom in gardening over the past few years and Nunan's has been riding the crest of the wave thanks to the quality and diversity of their stock.
"There are a lot of other places on the North Shore where people from the Tri-Town region could go for plants," Bouchard-Dahl said, "but they appreciate that Nunan's is like an old-fashioned, family-run business and they recognize and appreciate the quality of their products."

When Bill and Steve took ownership of the 25-acre property 18 years ago, Nunan's was primarily a florist shop in a building up by the street and sold some plants out of an attached greenhouse. The duo built an attractive 20,000 SF greenhouse-retail building down back in 1989 and, between then and now, some 17 greenhouses have sprouted so they now have a capability to grow most of their plants on site. "The quality is higher," Bill said, "because we're doing it all ourselves and we're doing it in this climate - from seeds, cuttings and/or bulbs." He added that plants sold by some of the so-called "Big Box" stores don't fare very well in the blustery New England weather because they are shipped here from other places - often from totally different climates. "Items grown in the greenhouses make up what we are," Steve added. He, Bill and their staff grow 16,000 Easter lilies of which about 3,000 are sold every year at Nunan's. The rest sell wholesale to upscale farms and florists. As wholesale flower vendors, they also grow 20,000 poinsettias that are sent all over, and they ship more than 150,000 poinsettia cuttings and bare root stock in the spring and summer to other Garden Centers. "We're very well known for our poinsettias," Bill said. "It's our premier crop."
So, when you sell more than a million plants a year, how could your business be any better or grow any bigger? Well, it could because there's always more to do and newer ways to grow plants, they say, and there are modern methods of irrigation to try out and different ways to package and ship plants and methods for making your greenhouse space more effective and profitable. And, Bouchard-Dahl added, Nunan's, which is already customer-friendly, wants to further strengthen customer service and improve communication and is working on printing a newsletter, setting up a website and developing comment sheets so customers can share what they enjoyed and didn't enjoy about their shopping experience.
Nunan's doesn't just grow and sell plants though. Bill and Steve pride themselves on being a one-stop shop for everything garden-related. You can buy potted plants from one of the greenhouses; work with one of five designers on wedding, funeral or other flower arrangements; buy trees or bushes from the nursery or take home an assortment of garden-related products such as fertilizer, insecticide, assorted tools, garden-inspired statuary, gifts, gadgets and other such items.
You can order from the full-service retail florist shop, which includes several delivery options including FTD and Teleflora. In fact, Nunan's was listed by FTD last year as one of the top 500 florists in the country and the Boston Business Journal ranked Nunan's among the top 10 in Massachusetts for dollar volume of business. Readers of Community Newspaper Company publications further honored Nunan's by voting them the top regional florist and Garden Center.
In addition to all things for gardens, you can also find a complete line of bird feeders and bird food from sunflower seed to suet inside the Garden Center. In short, there's almost nothing your wee feathered friends could desire that you can't find at Nunan's.
The latest expansion at the Georgetown site is a large and well-stocked nursery, complete with a 20-foot high waterfall. Design and construction, Bill said, "was geared to make shopping there a pleasurable experience." There are benches and paved pathways that you meander along as you select just the right bushes, trees and other plantings for your yard. The setting is so beautifully done and so picturesque that wedding parties often make it a destination for their formal photos.
When they aren't growing the business, Steve and Bill focus on giving back to the communities that have supported them so generously over the years. They have donated money, plants and trees and have volunteered time and construction equipment for numerous area playgrounds and other community projects. "We think community service is an important part of what we do," Steve commented.
And, every year for the past 17 years, they have hosted a special Christmas Open House (the Sunday after Thanksgiving) and Customer Appreciation Day with a visit from Santa and the breathtaking sight of all those fabulous poinsettias everywhere you look.
Most of us see what's for sale at nurseries and don't give much thought to what goes on behind the scenes. Greenhouse management is a true science, Bill says. You have to know when to plant and you have to be aware of soil and air temperature. The 17 greenhouses have heaters that need constant monitoring and alarms that bounce Steve, Bill or someone else out of bed in the middle of the night if electricity fails, the heaters stop and the plants are in danger. "You only have half an hour to get here and make a decision before something happens to the plants," Bill said.
Every day there are changes to be made. Plants whose growth is more advanced need to be moved to cooler locations and slower plants need to move to warmth. It's a never-ending process.

Bill and Steve attribute much of their success to the hard work of their competent staff members, many of whom have worked at Nunan's since 1985, as well as to several members of Steve's family who also work in the business, including his son, Stephen,who runs the nursery with Steve's brother, Bruce; his sisters, Maryanne, who is executive assistant, and Maureen, who keeps Garden Center plants clean and organized, and his brother, Michael, who is in charge of the retail Garden Center.

When Steve isn't working - and he admits he does work six days a week - he enjoys golf and bowling. Bill said his relaxation is Maine. "I go to Maine a lot and drool over what I wish I had more time to do."

But, it's a good life - as the resident cats, Blackie, Merrill and Toby can attest as they stretch out in the warmth of the sun, slightly pop one eye open to check out the stranger, roll over and drop back off to sleep.

For more information about Nunan's, drive out to see their spread or give them a call at 978-352-8179