THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1995 TAG: 9503070055
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EARNING A LIVING IN VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
IT ALL STARTED with a single California giant petunia that was given to Margaret King by her husband DeKoven King in the early 1900s.
Margaret King loved the flower and its scent so much, that she had her husband build a greenhouse behind their Norfolk home.
Under Margaret King's watchful eyes and green thumb, the petunia greenhouse thrived. Neighborhood kids used to load up their wagons full of the Kings' petunias and go door to door selling them.
In 1931, the couple's petunia business grew out of the small backyard greenhouse and they decided to expand into what was then Princess Anne County.
The couple bought a parcel of land just off Virginia Beach Boulevard and built three glass greenhouses and moved there with their four small children.
The business still stands in its original spot and is known as Flowers By King's and Greenhouses.
Cassius ``Cash'' King, the youngest son of DeKoven and Margaret King, remembers the time when Virginia Beach Boulevard was a small, two-lane road that ran directly in front of his family's greenhouse.
He and his two sisters, Aileen Buckner and Carrin Spreen, and older brother, DeKoven Clay King, used to roam the fields where a Kmart and Pembroke Mall now stand.
``Over the years, we've had to change with the times,'' said Cash King, who now owns the business with his youngest sister, Aileen Buckner. ``We're trying to keep a young outlook on an old business.''
The changes in the industry and city itself have been remarkable, King said.
Flowers, for one, are now professionally grown and bred to weed out impurities; greenhouses are heated and cooled by electricity, and fresh flowers are delivered by aircraft, often in a matter of hours.
In 1931, the only way the business could get flowers into what was then Princess Anne County was by bus or train. Because of this, the family concentrated mainly on the greenhouse business, growing their own California petunias, azaleas, pansies, potted plants and greenery.
As transportation alternatives improved, so did the family's retail business, which they opened in a building directly in front of the greenhouses in 1938.
During World War II, pilots from Oceana used to align their compasses with the business, which was a landmark surrounded by fields.
In the 1960s, the Kings witnessed the development of Pembroke Mall and the development of other surrounding land.
In 1974, the family business branched into Chesapeake, where they built 16 greenhouses and moved into a large home adjacent to them.
A lot of people don't remember that the Kings also owned an adjacent ceramic shop. It was closed when they decided to concentrate on the retail floral business.
The Kings claim they had the first retail floral shop in the city, although they were not the first operating greenhouse.
Cash King, 62, credits the firm's long life to customer satisfaction.
``We satisfy customers through high-quality flowers and keeping the prices in a moderate range,'' he said. ``We made sure we changed with the times. For instance, during the war, we lowered our prices.
``The lifestyle is not fabulous,'' King continued. ``There have been times that if we could just pay all our creditors, I was the happiest man in the world.''
Today, King's daughter and son-in-law, Cindy and Jim Laufer, manage the greenhouse business while he and his wife, Sally, and youngest daughter, Cathy Moran, concentrate on the retail end of floristry.
In the Chesapeake greenhouses, the family raises potted plants, bedding plants and poinsettias. Eighty percent of their greenhouse business is pre-sold stock to garden clubs, landscapers and others.
Although she grew up in and around the business, Moran originally wanted to be a nurse like her grandmother was before they started the business.
When the family needed a delivery driver, Moran volunteered and one thing led to another and she became the store's manager when her aunt Aileen Buckner's health caused her to retire.
``I can't imagine doing anything else at this point in my life,'' said Moran. ``I really believe that the Lord has a plan for all of us. Although I started out to be a nurse, I think this is where he intended me being the whole time.''
Moran's two sons also help out in the greenhouse business.
One day, King hopes to pass the business on to his fourth-generation grandchildren.
Until then, he says, he's planning on working in the business until ``the end.'' MEMO: Flowers By King's & Greenhouses can be reached at 497-3247.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Cassius ``Cash'' King and his wife, Sally, concentrate on the retail
end of floristry at Flowers by King's and Greenhouses on Virginia
Beach Boulevard.
Since 1931, the business has been located on the same spot on
Virginia Beach Boulevard. But in 1974, the family business branched
into Chesapeake, where they built 16 greenhouses.
by CNB