Tom’s Greenhouses celebrates 60 years

By Ginny Privitar
GOSHEN — Gary Esposito remembers being a small boy who loved the job of opening the greenhouse windows. In the old days, greenhouses were glass, and in warm weather they would crank open roof panels.

Gary always volunteered for the job, but he was so small he couldn’t reach them or turn the crank wheel.

“I always remember my father picking me up, putting me on his shoulder and walking me over to the wheel and helping me turn the crank so I could open and close the windows," he said. "That was my big treat.”

Now, at 6 feet, 8 inches tall, he finds parts of the greenhouse roofs so low, he says, “I’m banging my head on them all the time."

Tom Esposito, Gary’s dad and founder of the business, studied horticulture at SUNY Cobleskill, then left to fight in the Korean War. After he came home he bought and restored the abandoned greenhouses on Montgomery St. in 1954. He and his wife, Phyllis, ran the business. She was a schoolteacher and quit when the children came along, and then worked in the flower shop, helping Tom build the business.

Gary said his dad “always loved people — he was a real people person. His real passion was working in the greenhouse, rather than the flower shop. He was a big burly guy — not what would you expect.”

He also had a great sense of humor.

“Dad was a very boisterous character," Gary said. "He always kept everybody laughing. He teased everybody and had nicknames for everybody. He never called anybody by their name — it was 'Shorty' or 'Stretch' or 'Homer.' He called everybody Homer if he couldn’t remember their name."

The business has always been a greenhouse and full-service florist. The Espositos grew holiday plants and cut flowers.

“This was before rapid transportation, so they had to rely on growing a lot of their own lilies and poinsettias for the holidays," Gary said. "In those days you had to go to a greenhouse to buy holiday plants.”

A family affair
Tom and Phyllis had three children: Gary, his brother, Steven, and sister, Carol. They all worked for the business as kids, and during summers while in college.

Gary remembers an incident that always made his father laugh whenever it was mentioned. When Gary was 18, newly licensed and just learning how to drive on a stick shift, his dad asked him to deliver 100 latex balloons for a birthday celebration to someone at a Middletown company. After blowing up the balloons, Gary said, he loaded up the van with them and set off. It was a sweltering July day and the un-airconditioned van soon heated up. He was reluctant to open the windows in case the balloons got tangled or slipped out. Then, one by one, balloons started to pop from the heat.

When he arrived, only 30 balloons were left. But they made arrangements to have them replaced for the customer. Gary said his father never got over it — he thought it was hilarious.

After college, Gary worked for a while for a high-end florist in Manhattan. He met and married his wife, Jane, here in Goshen. She, too, worked in Manhattan in the stock market. In 1992, Gary took over running the business from his father. He and Jane had moved back to Orange County. After a year of commuting to the city, and then deciding to start a family, Jane quit her job and started working in the business.

At first Jane volunteered to do accounts. Tom had always outsourced that part of the business. Jane recalls invoices made out to people’s nicknames. No doubt there was a Homer or two in there. Eventually Jane would work at the business full-time and, today, she does floral design along with the bookkeeping.

In 1998, Tom Esposito died from lung cancer. He was an athlete, but he had picked up smoking in Korea, where his rations came packed with cigarettes. He told his son he smoked to keep warm during the cold Korean winters.

Gary and Jane have three children: Melissa, 17; Emily 13; and Thomas, 11, who is named for his grandfather. According to Gary, he looks just like him.

Gary loves working as a florist and being his own boss. He is proud to be carrying on the family tradition. But the business has changed. Aside from the long hours, competition has increased, with even supermarkets selling flowers and plants. Gary would encourage his kids to go into the business, but "only if they really love it.”

Gary and Jane enjoy coming to work in such beautiful surroundings, and Jane said they have lots of laughs every day.

The business has always hired kids from Goshen High School and the community. Years ago they started writing down the names of all the kids who worked there.

“We must have had 150 kids who worked here over the years — my friends, my brother’s friends, customers’ kids," he said. "It was like a 'Who’s Who' of who grew up in Goshen."

Today, they’re still giving jobs to local kids and providing everything you could need in the way of flowers, plants, shrubs and trees. Tom’s Greenhouses is committed to customer service. After 60 years in business — learning from a few balloon mishaps along the way — they sure know what they're doing.

Tom’s Greenhouses and Florist is located at 123 Montgomery St. in Goshen. The website is tomsgreenhousesandflorist.com. Call 294-5233 or email Tomsgreenhouses@frontiernet.net.