Kiefer’s Florist celebrating 100 years of business
Kiefer’s Florist is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Pictured here with some of his flowers is owner Ed Kiefer. Kiefer’s is planning to have an open house this spring to celebrate their milestone anniversary.
COSHOCTON – Kiefer’s Florist in Roscoe Village has been providing professional floral arrangements to their customers for 100 years. The business, started by Andrew Kiefer when he was 36 years old, has been handed down through three generations.
“He was a glassblower by trade,” Ed Kiefer, owner of Kiefer’s Florist, said about his grandfather, “Dad said they had gone to a convention. They took a trip and were looking at machine-made glass bottles. He saw those perfect bottles coming off the assembly line, and saw the writing on the wall that his job wasn’t there. He liked growing and liked the greenhouse, and decided to make it a business.”
Thus, Kiefer’s Florist was born and Andrew ran the business out of his house for a while at 1521 Walnut St. until the business was built at 410 S. 15th St.
“Part of the reason he started was there were only two other greenhouses in town and then eventually, one closed,” said Kiefer. “There was a good market for it.”
Andrew used to grow a lot of fresh-cut flowers in his 1500 square foot greenhouse and also grew a lot of specialty items, such as sweet peas and calla lilies. Kiefer believes his grandfather built his greenhouse in 1912.
“The earliest invoice found was in 1913,” said Kiefer, “but I found invoices from 1912 from Coshocton Lumber. That’s probably when grandpa was building his first greenhouse.”
Kiefer was eight years old when his grandfather passed away.
“When I first started, I still had customers that had dealt with my grandfather,” said Kiefer. “That made a really unique connection. I do remember him in his greenhouse. When I heard stories customers told, it was really neat. It made a difference on how I viewed the business.”
When Kiefer returned from college, he took care of the shop and retail aspect of the business while his dad cared for the greenhouse.
“It formed a great partnership,” said Kiefer. “Everything I did, I always got his opinion. My parents were always supporters of everything I did.”
Kiefer’s Florist moved from being near the Coshocton County Memorial Hospital to its current location in Roscoe Village in January 2011 and is now looking at some exciting new products.
“With the economy, it speaks well if you can maintain your day-to-day business,” said Kiefer. “We’re looking into some new product lines we’re going to be developing. If we can get this off the ground, it’s going to be really exciting.”
They are also offering something special for their 100th anniversary. Kiefer’s is offering a special for every 100th order placed every month, and in October, the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum will be featuring some of Kiefer’s memorabilia from his business. They are hoping to have an open house in the spring.
“I want to give a really big thank you to my customers,” said Kiefer. “In this business, you interact with customers on an extremely personal level. We have seen the saddest of times to the happiest of times. You’re building a relationship that goes beyond just flowers. We’ve had great customers over the years and hope to add new ones.”
beth@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Business
