Flower Power
Written by admin
Celebrating 35 years as a Main Street institution
What can you accomplish with a lot of hard work, and a love of beautiful things? A successful business in the floral industry.
Tom Feldewerth, owner of The Flower Petaler, is celebrating 35 years as a Main Street institution in St. Charles. After a 10 year teaching career, this former educator realized his dream of owning a business and became the proprietor of this charming home décor superstore. His humble beginnings in a corner of what is currently The Crows Nest cost him a mere $750. Early on, his sister Mary Swinney ran the shop during school hours, and Tom would rush to the store to take over for the remainder of the evening and the weekends. Two years later, with his new business partner Don Thebeau, they decided it was time to expand and dive into the business full time. Tom soon left his teaching job and hired a student who worked part-time and weekends. Once they were able to focus on the business full time, business picked up and they outgrew their small corner on Main Street. They purchased the current location at 620 S. Main and have expanded over the past three decades to 17 rooms full of amazing florals, art, home décor and personal design services.
As business grew, so did family involvement. Tom’s niece, April, was 14 when she started working part time in the shop over the summer as a cashier, helping the designers whenever she could. She fondly recalls the ‘pansy craze’ when they received 600 boxes of pansies to be cut for head designer Rita Marshall, who has been with the company for over 20 years. April remembers, “I would sit all day with the flowers. Every box had six colors: purple, blue, pink, yellow, burgundy and white.” She has been with the Flower Petaler now for almost 20 years and has never looked back. When her uncle retires, April has plans to take over the family business. Tom isn’t ready to hand over the reins quite yet, but knows that when he does, the store will be in good hands. Their shared passion for creating beautiful things and taking care of customers has been the key to their success for many years.
Tom recalls many ups and downs. “We have seen amazing things over the years. The Beanie Baby years when people would line up outside to get the latest addition to their collection, the horrible floods when people didn’t think they could get here and the transformation of Main Street to the beautiful historic shopping district.” Through good times and bad, the philosophy of this successful business has remained the same. “My sister Mary always said, ‘we just have to make it irresistible’ and she was right. That is what keeps people coming back.”