This year, Goold’s Nurseries in Sussex, N.B. marked its 130th year in business in the East Coast town. The long standing florist has been a familiar face in the community – so much so that the florist set up shop before the town existed and they even inspired the name of the street that the florist is located on – Floral Avenue.
Pam Goold is the head designer at Goold’s Nurseries and marks the fifth generation that has worked at the shop. The florist employs two part time and three full time staff members as well as a few sixth generation family members that help out when needed. Her father, Art Goold, still holds the position as owner and can still be found checking in on the day-to-day operations.
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From left, Pam Goold, head designer; Carol Morrell, front sales; Karen Goold, front sales and bookkeeping; and owner Art Goold.
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The operation started way back in 1878 with Pam’s great-great-grandfather who followed his passion for horticulture and began growing carnations and calla lilies in greenhouses. Goold’s Nurseries eventually got into floral work and supplied other local floral operations with blooms until the rising gas prices of the 1970s made the growing side of the business too costly. Now, the shop relies on their suppliers for product and Pam Goold travels ten minutes to their local wholesaler to pick up whatever flowers are needed.
“I usually go up most mornings and pick out what I want. We have a big variety and we use as many of the local grown flowers as possible and then just a bit of import. We’re lucky that these guys grow their own alstroemeria, mums, daisies, gerberas, delphinium and all those sorts of things,” she says. Daisies are especially popular with the florist’s customers as many of their clients appreciate how long they last. “We have customers that will ask if these are local or import. If they know that they are local, they’ll get a bouquet of them with just daises.” She says within the last five to seven years, the staff at Goold’s has started to stress and celebrate their local product and this may be one reason as to why product that’s grown close to home has become so popular with customers.
Located in a town of approximately 4,200 people, Goold describes the shop style as “more of a traditional shop with just a little bit of influx starting in more contemporary design.” She is seeing more customers who are willing to try something new and different. “They are starting to appreciate that you can have a beautiful arrangement with just a couple of cymbidium orchids and maybe some bear grass, some decorative rocks and a nice ceramic dish.” Goold says whenever she attends seminars, wholesale design shows or conventions, she’s always known for bringing home designs from the auctions and showing them off to customers. “Occasionally we’ll put something a little bit different out in the front. Then [customers] know if they want something like that, they can come in and ask for it.”
When it comes to the people who frequent the shop, one anomaly that Goold has noticed is the amount of men who make up their customer base. “I always wondered where they got that most of the flower buyers were women because we have mainly men. A lot of guys going out on the first date, they want the single rose. We do a lot of birthdays and anniversaries for wives.” A lot of teenage boys will come in to Goold’s Nurseries for a simple rose or daisy and will continue to buy flowers as they get older. “I would say the majority of our customers would range probably from 17 to 40. After that they take their wives for granted,” she jokes.
One of the shop’s biggest strengths is the relationships they’ve built with their customers. “A lot of them trust us and that’s something we take very seriously.” It’s common to have customers call up, tell them what they need the flowers for and the customer will be confident that Goold’s Nurseries will create something perfect for that occasion. “They know that it will be an average price and that we’re going to do something they’re happy with,” she says. “We hear ‘we knew which arrangement was yours because of the style and the look and how fresh it was.’ We get a lot of compliments that way.”
The florist also takes the extra step to help out their customers when they are in a bind. While the florist likes to say they deliver once in the morning and once in the afternoon, the nature of the small town means they often make a few extra trips if a client has forgotten an anniversary and needs the flowers right away. This also extends to their seven-day-a-week service that they offer clients. “Even though the shop is only open six days a week, we have a 24-hour answering service and we’re on call seven days a week.” The only exception is Christmas Day.
Goold says going that extra mile has helped to nurture their customer base and establish Goold’s Nurseries as a place to do business. “We’re proud to have been around for 130 years in the same family and in the same location,” she says. “We’ve dedicated ourselves to looking after the community.”
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