SCRANTON — A 30-plus-year career in the floral business started by chance for Bern Giovannucci.
While working for Helen Schwartz Gifts across the street, she noticed a sign in the window of Greg Novak Floral Design on Penn Avenue seeking help around the shop.
“It’s something I did on my own,” she said. “I came over and said, ‘Would you give me a chance?’ He did, and that started the whole journey. It’s been a fun journey and sometimes a crazy journey.”
When Novak became sick and passed away, his parents didn’t want to continue the business, allowing Giovannucci to take over and rebrand it as B’s Floral Design in 2005, she said. More than two decades later, she’s retiring.
Leslie Collins, president and CEO of Scranton Tomorrow, a nonprofit community and economic development organization, stressed Giovannucci had a deep impact on the city.
“She has been an absolute staple in the downtown for decades, and she has been incredibly community-minded,” Collins said. She recalled a special item Giovannucci made to reward proprietors for keeping their shops in pristine condition.
“Well over a decade ago, she crafted an (award) that we would give to businesses for going above and beyond in the cleanliness and beautification of their business,” Collins said. “She created this amazing golden broom that people didn’t want to hand back over to us, to pass on to their neighbor, because it was so incredibly beautiful.”
Giovannucci, 74, looks forward to reconnecting with some old hobbies and traveling to spend quality time with loved ones.
“It’s time for me to take care of me,” she said. “We went through it all — the holidays, the weddings, the graduations. It was fun, and I love what I’m doing, but after 30 years, I’m tired. I just want to have the time to do the things I love to do. I’d love to go horseback riding again for the first time in 35 years, and visit my brother in North Carolina and friends in Florida and Maine.”
Giovannucci strove to connect with each person who walked through the door and was always willing to share some love and kindness by providing the less fortunate with a bottle of water on a hot day or a pair of gloves for their ailing hands.
“I get to know their names and I get to know the person,” she said. “And then when you see their face coming in, they’re smiling and they’re happy.”
Giovannucci plans to remain in the shop until around mid-March as she conducts a retirement sale, attempting to unload an assortment of vases, seasonal decorations and more.
Seeing someone smile — especially someone experiencing the loss of a loved one — after receiving a flower delivery always left Giovannucci with a sense of fulfillment and joy.
“Knowing that you just made somebody’s day, that’s the best part of this job,” she said.
Unfortunately, the volume of customers started to decrease in recent years, Giovannucci said.
“A lot of my customers were the older, more traditional customers, and they’re slowly dying,” she said. “I had one guy who would call all the time and he would order for himself, his sister, his neighbor, and his aunt or cousin — he’d order four or five pieces every holiday.”
Giovannucci won’t miss dealing with rising costs and technology-related issues around the shop, but she will miss one thing: the people.
“My customers that I’ve had, I appreciate so much because they’ve stuck by me and supported me through the years,” she said. “I’ve only met some over the phone, but we’ve had great conversations.”