Perth Amboy staple, Petrick's Flowers, closing its doors after 100+ years in business
PERTH AMBOY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A flower shop in New Jersey that has been blooming in its community for more than 100 years is closing down for good.
Petrick's Flowers, in Perth Amboy, is serving flower-lovers ahead of Valentine's Day for the last time.
The shop's current owner, William Petrick, says he has never known a life without the shop.
"Maybe I was five or six, when he was cleaning the front refrigerator," he said. "I'm trying to lift the buckets up to take to the sink. And they're probably as big as me."
Petrick's grandfather, Rudolph, opened the family-run business in 1910 after emigrating from Austria-Hungary. The original shop was built on Colgate Avenue with their home was attached to it. Petrick's father, Andrew, took over the shop, and in 1969 moved the shop to Pfeiffer Boulevard. It was in the 2000s that William Petrick got his turn to run the shop.
All throughout that time of continuing to supply flowers and plants for the community, the shop became a cornerstone for many.
"You did our wedding, you did our mother's wedding or grandmothers wedding, the funerals," said one resident. "So you've been with families for generations."
Petrick says the shop will close its doors later this year as the building has been sold and his children are following their own paths in life.
"I'm OK right now, but I'm sure when I don't come in here anymore, I'm sure I'll feel it more then," he added. "But for right now I'm still here. I'm still doing the same job."
Petrick acknowledged they don't have an exact date of when the store will close, but it'll likely be this summer after the rush of Mother's Day and Easter.
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