Sweet smell of success

The opening of George's Flowers at 421 S. Park St. immediately put the George Choles family through the rigors of what it would take to run a business.

The business opened Jan. 6, 1984 - not long before Valentine's Day - the biggest delivery day for a florist. Traffic at George's Flowers took off, and because a number of customers came from nearby service stations, evidence of a brisk business was left on the carpet: It was full of grease spots.

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"We are one of the businesses where people wait to the last minute to order," said Denise George Schultz, one of the owners. "It is just a very fast-paced business."

The business was started with George Choles, who did the floral arranging, his wife, Nia, who kept the books, and a driver. They got temporary help for Valentine's Day � just as they get more help now during big holidays - and it wasn't long before a permanent designer was hired.

Since then, George's Flowers has undergone three expansions, maxing out the available space at its spot not far from West Washington Avenue. The number of year-round employees has grown to 13, and most are full-time.

The business actually had its roots at New York Floral, a business started by George Choles' father, Fost Choles, when he was about 24. At 16, Fost Choles came here from Greece and started working at a store run by Louis Russos off the Capitol Square. Eventually Fost Choles suggested that business start selling flowers.

An entrepreneur, Fost Choles opened the first movie theater in Janesville at one point and then got back into the floral business, selling flowers at the Fuller Opera House on the Square. He left to serve in WWI and then opened his business at the Park Hotel where Inn on the Park stands now.

While still selling flowers from the Park Hotel, Fost Choles and his three sons � Stan, Gus and George � opened Choles Floral on University Avenue and Park Street. That shop was eventually moved to Regent Street where it still operates. George Choles was the youngest of the three and his brothers both died last year.

Gus Choles later struck out on his own to work in the floral supply business. Soon after, George Choles left and took three years off before going into the restaurant business for five years, operating Wiener King at Grand Canyon Drive and Odana Road. After that, George, now 81, and Nia Choles, now 71, opened George's Flowers.

Schultz, George Choles' daughter, said she has fond memories of hanging out at the floral business on University Avenue as a child.

"I remember the little fountain and all the smells," especially the smell of roses, she said.

While Schultz worked in the family's restaurant, she went on to work in a dental office and got a broker's license before joining the floral business a couple of months after it opened.

She said it just felt right to get into the business and she loved it right away. Schultz, 43, said she also learned a lot from her father, who was artistic as a child and is known in the business for his speed and his natural ability at floral arranging - something he passed on to his daughter both genetically and through his teaching.

Schultz also attended the American Floral School in Chicago and became a master florist. She manages the design end of the business, partly by creating special arrangements for holidays and handling the in-store design training program.

Schultz said her father has been open to new ideas from her.

"I think that's allowed our business to continue to grow," she said.

George and Nia Choles also have three sons: Fost, 47, Con, 45, and Nick, 40.

It was the middle son, Constantine "Con" Choles, who also decided to join the floral business as it continued to grow. He is now one of the owners who handles flower buying and office operation and administration.

But first he worked in the family's restaurant business, got a degree in industrial technology at UW-Stout and worked in management at Hormel Foods based in Atlanta. He then came back to Madison where he joined a friend in the design and manufacture of after-market auto parts to make cars look sportier.

Con is married and has two children, Kalli, 7, and Sophia, 5.

Schultz, who is married, brought her young twins to work where they could play in an area next to the company's offices on the second floor. Others came to take care of them but she was able to go up and see her children as often as she wanted. Now the twins, Ian and Loran, are 6.

Florists set themselves apart through the quality of the designs and the quality of the flowers themselves, Schultz said. George's Flowers also tries to keep its prices moderate.

Because 85 percent to 90 percent of the business is done by phone, the company has worked to build a reputation so customers can trust the company, Schultz said. Direct mail pieces target prior customers and recipients of George's Flowers arrangements.

George Choles, who served in WWII before he started his company, built his reputation in the industry early on when he was invited to do presentations on floral arrangements at trade shows.

The company's central location also is a plus and after trying out a second location at Knickerbocker Place on Monroe Street for five years in the 1990s, the company has decided to build its business in one spot, Con Choles said. The company did not do as well as it expected and found the added business was not worth the increased overhead and waste.

"For our niche in the industry, we can have better quality, quality control and can control overhead by having one location," Con Choles said. "We are easily in the top 10 percent of all florists nationwide for volume."

The Internet also has changed the industry and the company's site, www.georgesflowers.net, is changed frequently with the seasons to remain competitive.

While the barriers are not huge to start a floral business, it's not as easy to survive, Con Choles said.

One of the challenges of running a small business is how to provide benefits, and e-commerce has changed people's buying habits, he said. It's important to have talent and attention to detail to get customers, keep them and attract others, he said.

"Sometimes it just seems like it would be a wonderful business because you are around flowers all the time," he said. "The reality is it's a competitive business and a lot of hard work and there are a lot of challenges."