Business Profile: Brewster Flower Garden, Brewster
Mark Buzzetto knew it was time to take a leap of faith.
When Buzzetto was in his mid-20s, he was working for a flower shop down in Mount Kisco. Employed by a friend who owned the flower shop in the village, Buzzetto was young, but as time went on he learned all about the florist business.
He became so adept at the skills a florist needs that when the owner would go away on vacation, Buzzetto ran the shop smoothly and started to wonder if he was capable of owning his own place. All this occurred before he turned 30. After searching around the Hudson Valley for a suitable shop to own, Buzzetto eventually found The Brewster Flower Garden.
For the past 25 years, going on 26, he’s run the Main St. business, becoming a fixture in the village and a top-notch resource for all the holidays that include flower arrangements.
“Each town should have one good flower shop to exist,” he said “I’m the one good (flower shop), I stuck it out.”
Buzzetto’s journey to owning a flower shop started well before his first florist job at Four Season Flower Shop in MountKisco. Growing up, Buzzetto helped his stepfather with his landscaping business. While not the same thing exactly, when he was 13-years-old, it got him into the architectural design of where plants should go and how they would make a space look nice.
Then for almost eight years, he worked for Four Seasons and excelled. The owner always complimented him and trusted him to get the necessary work done. Buzzetto points to him as a mentor and will still call him to this day if he needs advice on a certain flower arrangement or in preparation for a party.
Buzzetto has the skills and the technique, but he also has a never-stop work ethic, especially on the busiest flower days of the year.
The first, of course, is Valentines Day. After that is Mother’s Day. On the days leading up to the two holidays, Buzzetto will stay as late as 3 in the morning and get back to work about three hours later at 6 a.m.
For the entire month of December, Buzzetto is busy delivering arrangements for Christmas parties or poinsettias to countless offices.
The business is mostly delivery, with 80 percent of the flowers ordered set to be dropped off. Every time Buzzetto drops off an arrangement, he enjoys seeing a smile on the face of the person that is receiving the arrangement.
Buzzetto has been doing all this for almost 26 years, even though he thought he’d only be around for about 10 years or so. His original plan was to sell the place after a decade and get into the restaurant business with his brother.
That never happened though, and Buzzetto doesn’t mind that change in plans one bit. He already has a job he loves and one that can provide for his family.
“That’s one good thing. I hope everyone can do that and say ‘I get to go to work, it’s great to go,’” he said. “It doesn’t bother me. I enjoy it. I wish more people had that in their lives.
