When Central Florist owner Lisa Elfante took the reigns of the business in 2005, she said she couldn’t tell the difference between a rose and a carnation.
But seeking to own her own shop after a career as a show business nail technician, working on set for soap operas such as “All My Children” and “Guiding Light,” Elfante decided to take a chance and “play Russian roulette,” as she put it, and closed on the deal on Feb. 8 of that year — less than a week before Valentine’s day.
“That was rough,” she said of taking ownership so close to the holiday that often makes or breaks flower shops, but Elfante said she learned on the fly. Now, more than 10 years later, and after recruiting help from her daughters Jaquilyn and Victoria, she has turned the process of preparing for the holiday into a well-oiled machine.
Valentine’s Day is a mammoth undertaking at Central Florist, Elfante explained, involving working around the clock, and equal parts logistics and grunt work.
She takes charge of orders for roses — only the finest, she said, from Ecuador — and Victoria, who she said has become her right-hand woman at the shop, handles orders for accessories such as stuffed animals, balloons, chocolates and decorations to go along with arrangements.
Correction: A Previous version of this story misidentified Victoria Capalbi as Jacquilyn.