Woodring’s Floral Gardens in downtown Bellefonte credits success to family
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Business Matters 2023
We’re taking a look at some of Centre County’s longest-running businesses, how they got there and the challenges they face now. Read more of our Business Matters series.
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For Dave Woodring, working in the floral industry is just in his blood.
He’s the fourth generation to own and work at Woodring’s Floral Gardens, 125 S. Allegheny St., Bellefonte, and he hopes to see his two kids, Lily and Corby, be the future of the business.
“Corby, my son, he’s working here. My daughter’s a senior at Penn State. She works weekends and whatnot, and she’s actually majoring in horticulture plant science and minoring in ag business. So between the two of them, they’re my retirement plan,” Woodring said.
It’s clear that “family owned and operated” is a big focus for Woodring and a point of pride in his business that has seen many changes over the past century, including last year’s closure of the State College storefront. They have a small crew, and Woodring makes sure those who work there but aren’t family by blood, still feel like family.
Between the silly nicknames that Woodring comes up with and affectionately calls his employees, and the teasing that goes back and forth, it feels like you’re sitting at the dining room table.
He attributes that to the success of the shop, which has been around since 1922. They offer fresh cut flowers, arrangements, house plants and other floral and gift items.
“As difficult as it’s been to get good help the last few years, the help that we’ve got has been good. They’ve been reliable. They do a good job. I mean, family is a big part of it, but you got to have the rest of them. I mean, we’re kind of like family here anyhow.”
“It kind of makes it fun to come to work when you can jab each other and whatever. You know what I mean? It’s for people that aren’t family, it makes them feel like family,” Woodring said.
The business
Woodring does it all — or, in his own words, he does “whatever needs done to get the day done.” He makes flower arrangements, helps customers, and does most of the buying and ordering. He actually prefers working in the greenhouse side of the business, although he doesn’t spend too much time there. His son is running the greenhouses now.
There, they grow a lot of blooming plants and popular items for specific holidays and seasons: hanging baskets and annuals for the spring, tulips and Easter lilies for Easter, poinsettias for Christmas and mums for the fall.
Supply chain issues, like so many other small businesses, has been a challenge for Woodring’s. What started during the COVID-19 pandemic — increases in fuel and product — has continued to get worse, he said.
It can take a little bit longer to get some things, and other items, such as some tropical plants, can require 7-10 days to get it.
“I’m trying to get customers oriented to that. To people that like that kind of stuff. I’m like, ‘You need to give me a two weeks heads up so I’m sure I can get it for whatever date you want it.’ I mean, it’s forcing people to not be quite so last minute as they used to be,” Woodring said.
As far as holidays go, Valentine’s Day creates the busiest couple of days for the shop, although Mother’s Day is actually a bigger holiday, he said. Mother’s Day just gets spread out a little more, as customers will send flowers throughout the week, rather than for one specific day. The product varies, too; some send the traditional flower arrangement and others send greenhouse items, so their mom can enjoy a hanging basket all summer, he said.
Easter can also be busy and Thanksgiving kicks off the Christmas season for the shop.
“It’s odd. We can go for a couple days and it’s like ‘Man, where is everybody?’ and then all at once it just blows up and we’ll have a couple of days that’s just insanity,” Woodring said. “We plan for certain things and try to make sure everything is in place when we need it.”
Looking back & ahead
Woodring’s previously had two storefronts, one in Bellefonte and another in downtown State College. The State College location closed in May 2022.
“The dynamics of downtown State College have changed a lot. Now it’s not the Happy Valley that it was 10 or 15 years ago, (with) all your big high-rises and this and that,” Woodring said.
They were in their location on South Allen Street for 50 years didn’t own the building like they do in Bellefonte. Between the cost to stay in downtown State College versus the walk-in business that they had there, plus the difficulty he had finding employees for the State College location, it made sense to combine everything into the Bellefonte location, Woodring said.
“February 13th and 14th were really the only two days that it was a bummer not being in downtown State College,” Woodring said. “We still deliver everywhere we delivered, do everything we did before, we’re just doing it out of (the Bellefonte) location now.”
They still get a lot of walk-in business in Bellefonte, but walk-ins have “fizzled” in the last 10-15 years because of the internet, he said. He estimated 90% of their business comes through phone and internet orders.
“We get a lot of internet orders. We can leave here at the end of the day and have, you know, half a dozen orders to start tomorrow. We come in in the morning and the printer has 10 or 15 orders on it that people got online overnight and sent flowers,” Woodring said.
Internet orders have helped the business to an extent, he said. Sometimes it can be difficult because people will expect to get exactly what they see online, even though there’s always a disclaimer that substitutions may be necessary. Most people are understanding, he said.
Another difficult aspect over the years has been deaths in the family. Woodring’s father, who died in 2001, previously owned the shop. Woodring’s three sisters, who also worked with him, have passed away since, too. Losing four of the five “key family members” made it difficult, he said.
Mike Albright, who worked in the State College location, was like an older brother to Woodring. He died last year.
“There’s just been a lot of real key people that” have died, he said. “That makes it rough but, like I said, I got a pretty good crew of other people that have stepped up to the plate,” including his two kids.
Looking ahead, Woodring doesn’t expect to expand as far as another retail location, but they’ve discussed the possibility of having more greenhouses.
“The more you can grow yourself, the better off you are. I mean, we’re not in a real ideal area to be growing cut flowers, but, you know, as far as some of the specialty plants and stuff that we grow, we’ve gotten into doing more succulents and some things that are popular,” Woodring said.
This story was originally published February 24, 2023 at 9:00 AM.
