Natural Beauty

Luxury Flowers Arranged With Care And Finesse

By Christy Hinko

“The earth laughs in flowers.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson. F or years researchers have studied the effects of fresh flowers on mood, emotion and memory. One group of psychologists and a geneticist spent time evaluating these responses and published their findings in a 2005 article “An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers” in the journal Evolutionary Psychology. Only one thing is clear, that flowers induce powerful emotion. The design team at Muscari Flowers & Events in Roslyn strives to do just that with every arrangement that leaves the store each and every day.

“Flowers make people happy,” says Hollie Nadel, the

director of special events and operations at Muscari. “You feel happier when you’re around flowers, plus it’s nice to have something beautiful in your home or at an event.”

Muscari Flowers & Events originally opened more than 19 years ago in the Kitchen Kabaret shopping plaza on Glen Cove Road; it’s been at its present location for more than 11 years.

Muscari’s owner Kobi Karudo began his career in the industry as a floral importer, supplying flowers to florists. Once when he received a shipment of flowers, he used several to create a stunning arrangement that caught the interest of some of the stores that he provided flowers to and also generated some new supply business. This was Karudo’s “aha moment.” He knew he had to open his own retail location.

“We provide people with floral art, nothing is randomly thrown together,” Nadel says. “Everything is done with certain care and finesse.”

Each holiday or season lends itself to traditional arrangement requests, but when something is available offseason, it’s usually a popular request.

“When we get peonies in, for instance, in the spring, then everyone wants peonies in the arrangements,” Nadel says. “Because when the specialty flowers are not available during different times of the year, there’s more of a demand.”

Roses are the most popular flower in the whole world, followed by tulips, lilies and poinsettias, but one of the most interesting flowers that Muscari is known for are its orchids.

“We sell orchids all year round,” Nadel says. “Orchids can be finicky; the most common mistake people make is over-watering.”

Orchids are sensitive to temperature changes and lighting, but they can have a second bloom, although it is not guaranteed. It can take more than 10 months for that to happen.

Muscari imports flowers from all over the world for every holiday and every occasion, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, housewarmings, milestones, births and deaths.

“We also have commercial accounts that we do weekly arrangements for,” Nadel says. “We provide maintenance for the onsite arrangements also, including pruning

Muscari is famous for its beautiful orchids

and watering.”

Recurring accounts can be anything from restaurants, retail locations, corporate offices and even private residences. Commercial customers are often interested in a “showpiece” or something that stands out and makes a statement, usually crafted with more hardier varieties of greenery and blooms. In addition to commercial accounts and floral arrangements, Muscari has expanded its service expertise to event design and arrangements.

“In a lot of ways, my background helps because I’m very good with color, design and concepts when it comes to event planning,” Nadel says. “I call what I do now ‘interior design with flowers.”

(Top) Hollie Nadel, Muscari Flowers Director of Special Events and Operations

Muscari has floral arrangements available in all sizes.

A designer at Muscari puts the finishing touches on an arrangement.

Nadel’s background is in theater design, primarily in costume and wardrobe design for film, TV and theater.

“I’ll look at the placement of everything in a space and can visualize if they need something rectangular or silver and what it would take to pick up the accents in the room,” Nadel says. “Event design and planning was a natural segue over into the floral industry.”

Karudo and Nadel agree, even more important than the quality of arrangements that Muscari produces is the level of customer service that their team provides.

“There are times when people are calling for happy occasions, but there are many when they are calling for funeral arrangements and they’re distraught,” Nadel says.

Nadel recalls a time when a customer called her. The woman’s mother was dying from Parkinson’s disease complications. “She called and said, ‘I want my mother to have the most beautiful flowers and I know that when she actually passes I won’t be in the headspace to have this

conversation; I want to

take care of this because it needs to be spectacular for her because she loves flowers,’” Nadel says. “Just taking that extra time to speak with her

makes a difference; we take that extra time to make sure and get to know our customers.”

Nadel says that customers have called back afterward to say, “Thank you. You have made a sad occasion more positive and proper.”

“Developing relationships is key and nowadays so many people are replaced by machines, doing away with customer service,” Nadel says. “It’s that extra element that keeps people coming back.”

She keeps proper notes and follows up to see what they like and what they don’t like.

“A lot of our customers are repeat customers,” Nadel says. “They come in and I know their name and I know what they like; that’s what makes people feel special.” Muscari Flowers & Events is located just off the Long Island Expressway at 342 Roslyn Road in Roslyn Heights. Visit www. muscariflowersroslyn.com or call 516-625- 1397 to place an order or for information.

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