Country Arts in Flowers, a West Hempstead Landmark, reaches a milestone

   Country Arts in Flowers, the quaint flower shop that has for half a century graced the corner of Hempstead Turnpike and Munson Avenue, celebrated this month its 50th year in the West Hempstead community.
    As though Mother Nature planned for the event, the weather on Saturday, March 20, was perfect for a ribbon cutting ceremony. Dozens of people gathered outside 535 Hempstead Turnpike, where the shop has been a fixture for so many years.
    Family, friends and neighbors, along with members of the West Hempstead Chamber of Commerce, were there to join the celebration with Nick and Tom Flouskakos – the pair of brothers who've owned Country Arts in Flowers since 1994, when they purchased the business from its original owners.
    The brothers, whose father was a florist in Flushing, Queens, remembered the high school and college days they spent working for him, so when it came time to run their own business, they figured they'd stay in a line of work familiar to them, according to Nick.
    They opened a different flower shop in West Hempstead in 1989, but wanted to expand five years later and chose to purchase one of the largest businesses in the area at the time, Country Arts in Flowers. They decided to keep the original name because the shop was already a well-established part of the community. As Nick put it, "almost like a landmark business in West Hempstead."

    For the Flouskakos family, the shop is more than just a business. "We're a service-related business in the sense that people can buy flowers any place, but [with us] everything is guaranteed," Nick told the Herald in a recent interview. "We're committed to service and quality," he added.
    That's something he believes his customers realize because, he said, without their support, the shop would not have reached the success it's found in all its years under Flouskakos' ownership. Country Arts in Flowers works with a variety of customers, from corporate clients to local churches, but it specializes in weddings, servicing more than 100 per year, all on referrals.
    What makes the shop's reputation so great? "All our work is unique," Nick said, and the business is trusted in the community. One thing Country Arts in Flowers' owners say with definite pride is that no matter the state of the economy, they're dedicated to doing their job to the best of their ability. "We're not compromising our quality or service due to the recession," Nick said. In fact, they're planning to further improve it: according to Nick, they've already renovated the store "in order to get ready for the next go around."
    For more information about the shop, visit its Web site, countryartsinflowers.com.