Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Big Changes: Bob Barone, owner of the Posey Garden flower shop in Willow Glen recently sold the business to Kay Wolf, who will be moving the shop next door and expanding to sell accessory items, in addition to just flowers.
Bob Barone sells his shop but plans to remain a WG fixture
Posey Garden's new owners will move to new space next door
By Kate Carter
It's Bob Barone's last day at his Posey Garden flower shop, and he's giving a few tips to the woman who will be taking over the business in a matter of hours.
"You know how to make more business?" he asks her. "Keep your door open," and he opens the front door onto the rainy day outside.
Barone closed his Posey Garden shop for the last time on April 11. Kay Wolf and her bookkeeper Lorri Harmon opened for their first time the next day, with plans to expand operations and eventually move next door to where Dolce Spazio was located until last week.
Barone, his wife, Pat, and their Posey Garden shop have been fixtures in Willow Glen for more than 50 years. The Barones raised their three children, Rob, Lisa and Brian, and built their business in Willow Glen. They were first located in the Mission Glen Plaza at Lincoln and Roy avenues, then on the corner of Minnesota and Lincoln avenues, and finally at 1213 Lincoln Ave.
Barone says he served as president of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association when it first began to revitalize the downtown business district decades ago. He played Santa Claus every year at the tree lighting ceremony until three years ago. He painted the landmark "Smile ... You're in Willow Glen" sign on the Minnesota Avenue building where the shop used to be and made sure the building owner kept it there when he moved.
Although he says he's "devastated" to leave, he and Pat decided it was time for them to go.
"I'm 82 years old and ready to retire," Barone says.
He says he put the business up for sale last summer but didn't find the right buyer until February, when Wolf appeared and offered to take over providing quality products and friendly service.
Wolf is a transplant from Chicago who moved to the Bay Area to work for an Internet start-up company five years ago, she says. Last summer she decided to finally pursue her dream of running her own flower shop, but it took her until February to find the right shop in the right location.
"My mom said, 'You need to buy an established business like the Posey Garden,'" Wolf says. "It was a nice opportunity and it just fell into my lap."
Wolf has been "in training" with Barone and his veteran three-person staff for about a month, so she would be ready for a smooth changeover when escrow finally closed.
"He's like my grandfather," Wolf says of Barone. "He told me, 'You didn't just buy a business, you inherited a family.'"
Wolf says she and the Posey staff will keep the same phone number and continue to sell and deliver flower arrangements and other gift items. She also has plans to expand her service, developing corporate accounts, an email database and a website. She wants to provide more accessories, such as picture frames, soap and candles, and she's got some new ideas--starting a frequent flower program or a happy flower-hour discount.
But perhaps the biggest change she's making is relocating the shop, although it's not moving far. Next door, Dolce Spazio, the gelato cafe, closed its Willow Glen doors on April 14, and the flower shop will be moving in on June 1.
Mike Orlando, owner of Dolce Spazio, didn't return phone calls. However, a sign on his storefront window said the store's last day was April 14, and that he was closing the shop "to spend more time with my family." The sign also said his Los Gatos location would remain open.
Frank Dadgar, the building's landlord, says he doesn't yet have a new tenant for the current Posey Garden location.
Barone remains a business association board member and is helping to plan the Dancin' on the Avenue event scheduled for this June, he says. He says he will miss seeing his customers every day, but he plans to be available to help Wolf out if she needs it. But he has faith in Wolf and her ability to carry on what he started so many years ago.
"It's been my baby for 55 years, so it ain't gonna change," he says. "But they're her customers now."
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
