By Joshua Kim
Go down Main Street in Smithtown and you might be able to spot it tucked away in a row of stores just off Hauppauge Road: James Cress Florist. Founded in 1903 in Manhattan, the flower store expanded to Smithtown around 1961 and has been a fixture of the community ever since.
George Karatzas started selling flowers when he went to high school here on the North Shore, and he’s been selling flowers through various flower shops ever since. Most recently, he had been running Commack Florist for the past 20 years with his wife Linda. Then, in 2021, at almost 60 years old, they received a deal that caught their eye.
In December 2021, James Cress was owned by Family Flowers, a large flower company operating out of Alpharetta, Georgia, and, according to the Karatzas family, in decline, from both a profit and a customer trust perspective. Family Flowers, which was acquainted with the Karatzas family, reached out and offered to sell the two James Cress locations in Smithtown and Port Jefferson Station to the Karatzas. “[We] wanted to at least allow the brand to survive,” said Nick Karatzas.
Once they bought the store, their children, Stefan, Dawn and Nick, also helped out at the store, with Stefan and Nick helping grow the business online and Dawn running the wedding section of the business. They helped out despite having full-time jobs, with Stefan as a marine technician, Dawn as a teacher in Rockville Center and Nick as a credit underwriter.
They set to work revitalizing the store with diligence, never getting to celebrate holidays because holidays are the busy seasons for flower shops. But it paid off – these days, they process around 300 orders a day, and George can take over 100 calls a day from customers. Sales are up over seven times from what they were this time last year. Also, the James Cress building in Smithtown is a few doors down from its original location, with a wedding location behind to boot. And the business itself looks a little different too. When the Karatzas took over the business, around half of the James Cress customers were not on Long Island; now, the number is closer to 90% Moreover, James Cress now boasts over 200,000 registered people on its website.
But at the core of their business remains customer service: “I know that this order might be a little quirky, but I’m paying attention to it. I’ll make sure it gets delivered on time exactly how you want,” said Nick to describe the mindset of his father George. “Like he really cares about the customer at the end of the day and doing the right thing. And customers notice that.”
“The product that we actually offer is a way to celebrate and connect with people in a way that words can’t say.”
Visit James Cress’ website to learn more or place an order.
