Company: Mount Fuji Florist, Inc.
Owner: Ronnie Vescera
Employees: 3
Type of Business: Floral shop
Year Founded: 1977
Annual Revenues: WND
CHRISTMAS IS COMMING and Mount Fuji Florist has its display ready. Owner Ronnie Vescera smiles with pride.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
What started as a joke between Ronnie Vescera and his wife Joanne more than 22 years ago has blossomed into a literal bouquet for the couple who run Mount Fuji Florist on Academy Avenue in Providence.
“My wife wanted something to do,” Vescera smiled. “So we decided to open the shop.”
Today, the lime green walls of a converted home create a backdrop for a lavish array of exotic flowers which drape the walls and cover the floor. A touch of elegance is created with silver candle holders and urns used to display a wide variety of floral arrangements. For Vescera, his wife, and David Moroni, an employee, the store has become a life-sized portrait of art.
Mount Fuji Florist on Academy Avenue.
“We use the flowers as our palate,” Moroni said.
Plants have always been a part of Vescera’s life. A former chief horticulturist for Roger Williams Park, he has studied a wide variety of plants and flowers from around the world. Vescera even named the store after Mount Fujiyama, where he spent time studying bonsai (the art of dwarfing and shaping trees and shrubs in shallow pots) and the effect of altitude on nature. But, he jokes, the name can often be deceiving for new customers.
“Most people expect to see a little Japanese man when they come to the shop. They are a little surprised when they find a little Italian man,” he laughed. “But I enjoyed my time there and brought the name back with me.”
Vescera said he and his wife had little experience running a flower shop when they opened in early 1977, but said what they had was a love of nature and an understanding of business.
“We never went anywhere to learn about flowers,” he said. “But I did have experience in creating. I took great pleasure in looking and seeing the things that God created. We were also fortunate to have friends in the business who have guided us. But really you learn by mistakes, and you learn everyday.”
After two years of owning the business and working at Roger Williams Park, Vescera resigned from his position at the park so that he could devote more time to the flowers. But the change didn’t come without challenges.
“I enjoyed what I used to do, but this was really calling to me,” he said. “The difference is that as a landscape architect when you design a job you can go back three or four years later and see how things are changing and taking shape. But with this, after hours of preparation, you can see you work dismantled after only one night. That has been hard to get used to.”
Much of the store’s business focuses on parties, weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Vescera said one of the job’s challenges is creating the ideas for customers, and making those ideas suitable for the occasion. He said the job description includes coordinating, specializing, and advising.
“We have to have a lot of patience,” he said. “We try and tell people what would be best and what would make a statement, or compliment a room. We take into account the environment, the colors, and in the case of a bride we try and do something that won’t take away from the dress or dresses. But some people have their own ideas, and in the end we learn from each other.”
Weddings, Vescera said present their own set of unique circumstances from the bouquets to the centerpiece. But he said, wherever the flowers go, he is there too, including wedding receptions.
“We always stay along,” he said. “We are a full-service shop and we want to make sure that everything is the way it should be. It means a lot to our customers.”
Vescera said he has been very fortunate to build a good clientele over the years, many of whom are impressed with his respect for flowers.
“It doesn’t matter if we do a $5 bouquet or a $50 bouquet,” he said. “It’s not the money that impresses me, it’s the feelings of respect for the flowers and the work that goes into it that speaks to us and to our clients.”
And Vescera admits, his creativity and respect has created the impression for more than a decade that his shop is more expensive then others in the area.
“The rumors aren’t true,” he said. “Our prices are very reasonable and we pride ourselves on hard work, quality, and a personal touch.”
Vescera said everyday is different, and part of his success has been learning to plan accordingly and manage business successfully.
“You have to take the good with the bad,” he said. “Things have changed over the past few years. Now I have to be more of a shopper for my flowers, but I believe the quality is still there.”
One thing Vescera said that hasn’t changed during his tenure as a florist is the reward that comes from a job well done.
“When you get a bouquet just right, it seems to be the most exciting thing for a client,” he said. “You can just see it on their faces. That’s very rewarding.”
