In 1937 as the long shadows of the Great Depression stretched over Detroit, Frank P. Viviano and his wife Elizabeth opened up a small eponymous flower shop on the corner of Forest and Cadillac just around the corner from their family’s humble home. At first, Frank used a cigar box for a cash drawer, and, in the World War II era of gas rationing, he often resorted to delivering floral arrangements on Detroit city buses! The business was a small one which largely served the Italian families that lived nearby.
As the years passed, the family grew in size, and so did the business. However, keenly remembering how difficult it had been to feed his family of eight children during the Depression and the War years, Frank decided to purchase farm property in rural St. Clair Shores, north of the city of Detroit. Frank P. planned to use this land for growing kitchen vegetables for his family, a plan which did see copious amounts of vegetables grown on the site. However, Providence would intervene in a fortuitous way at the Harper Avenue property.
In 1937 as the long shadows of the Great Depression stretched over Detroit, Frank P. Viviano and his wife Elizabeth opened up a small eponymous flower shop on the corner of Forest and Cadillac just around the corner from their family’s humble home. At first, Frank used a cigar box for a cash drawer, and, in the World War II era of gas rationing, he often resorted to delivering floral arrangements on Detroit city buses! The business was a small one which largely served the Italian families that lived nearby.
As the years passed, the family grew in size, and so did the business. However, keenly remembering how difficult it had been to feed his family of eight children during the Depression and the War years, Frank decided to purchase farm property in rural St. Clair Shores, north of the city of Detroit. Frank P. planned to use this land for growing kitchen vegetables for his family, a plan which did see copious amounts of vegetables grown on the site. However, Providence would intervene in a fortuitous way at the Harper Avenue property.
As the years passed, all the Viviano children would work in some capacity at the flower shop learning craftsmanship, commitment, and camaraderie under their father’s tutelage. Eventually, the amiable Frank P. Viviano, Jr. would come into ownership of the flower shop along with his devoted wife Marianne. Together they would carry the business into a new generation of floral excellence and accommodating service which coincided with an expanding metropolitan area defined in no small measure by tremendous suburban growth.
In the 1980’s their sons Paul and Peter, currently the company’s respective CEO and President, embarked on an ambitious plan of modernizing operations while maintaining traditional standards.
Today, the rising fourth generation of family members share their talents with patrons and colleagues as part of an ongoing patrimony of floral artistry.