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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 3 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 25 W h a t ' s T h e D e a l By Hanna Snyder Gambini F or National Floral Supply, the wholesale flower business is blooming, and the company will soon relocate its headquarters and distribution center from Orange to a larger space in Milford. President and Managing Partner Andrew Hamer said the century-old company that he bought in November 2020 has outgrown its current 10,000-square-foot leased space in Orange. He bought a 2.25-acre property containing a 12,700-square-foot building at 497 Bic Drive in Milford in June for $1.4 million, along with two undeveloped parcels at 0 Shelland St., giving National Floral a total of roughly seven acres. e Milford Planning and Zoning Commission recently approved plans for renovating and expanding the existing building on Bic Drive, including a new 4,200-square-foot cooler for flowers. Hamer is hoping to complete the expansion and move by June. e undeveloped lots will be used to grow flowers in the summer. National Floral imports from flower- growing regions throughout the world, including South and Central America and Holland. Much of the imports pass through a partner business, Stellar Farms in Miami, Fla. National Floral Supply, formerly National Wholesale Florist, is one of the largest wholesale floral distributors in Connecticut, selling to floral shops, grocery stores, event planners and designers throughout the state and into eastern New York. e floral industry was considered essential during COVID-related shutdowns, but many events requiring flowers like weddings were put on hold. Once weddings and events were allowed, "e year coming out of COVID was explosive," Hamer said. Customers remained loyal, he said, because National Floral stayed open during COVID. "Now, we've almost doubled the size of the business in three years," Hamer said. "We have outgrown the facility we're in, it's very old and we needed to upgrade." He and his staff of roughly 30 employees will relocate to the new Milford headquarters. Milford Director of Economic and Community Development Julie Nash said she's "thrilled to have National Floral Supply here in Milford. ey are bringing life and beauty to a once- vacant building. ey are committed and excited to be part of the Milford community and we welcome them." Attorney Amy E. Souchuns told members of the Planning and Zoning Commission that this floral operation has been in Connecticut for close to 100 years, with 30 employees and minimal traffic impact. "e importance of this application is that it brings a new and thriving business to Milford with possibility for expansion," she said. e application received a favorable review from the town engineer and police department for traffic flow. e Milford site was attractive because it's close to Interstate 95, while not going too far out of the Orange/ Milford area, according to Hamer. e move would have minimal traffic impacts, with roughly 10 small vans mostly exiting the property each morning with flowers for distribution. Hamer said the floral industry is thriving, with few signs of wilting. "e backlog of COVID-delayed weddings and events has slowed down a bit, but it still remains strong. Overall consumption is up, and I think it will stay that way," he said. "People have increased their consumption of flowers, people are looking for joyful events, they want joyful things." n Amid blooming business, National Floral Supply moving HQ, distribution center to Milford Tulips and assorted flowers are imported to National Floral Supply in Orange, which is soon moving its headquarters and distribution center to 497 Bic Drive, Milford. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED B u y e r s & S e l l e r s Stone Bridge Crossing RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED Historic Bijou Theatre gets new owner e Bijou eatre was purchased by a Stratford businessman who plans to expand on the venue's entertainment offerings. Louie Zayas, owner of Star Factory in Stratford, a kids' dancing and birthday party venue, recently purchased the Bijou eatre at 275 Fairfield Ave. for an undisclosed amount. Zayas, a Bridgeport native, said he saw the opportunity to bring a new level of activity to the venue. Continued on next page e theater will continue to host live music, comedy shows and film screen- ings, but will now also offer a theater program for all ages, expanded Star Factory kids' dance parties and more. e Bijou eatre is the oldest build- ing in America that opened as a movie and live performance space and is still operating as a movie theater and live entertainment venue. e theater underwent several name changes through the years, includ- ing e Rivoli, Downtown Cinema and Downtown Family Cinema, but returned to its original "Bijou" name in 2003, where it remains a 200-seat capac- ity theater that stages live music, film series, cabarets, weddings and more. Retail end of Stone Bridge Crossing moving forward e retail portion of the Stone Bridge Crossing mixed-use project in Cheshire will include more than 130,000 square feet of space, with outdoor seating areas and drive-thrus. e team of Miller, Napolitano, Wolff LLC and Tri-Star Development submitted detailed plans to Cheshire boards for buildings and parking on Lot 5 of the massive Stone Bridge Crossing project. It's part of a special development district set on more than 100 acres near Interstate 691 for which a master plan was adopted in 2019 allowing the mix of residential, retail and commercial projects. In addition to the retail area, the development includes more than 300 residential units in various stages of construction. e overall master plan also includes a hotel and senior hous- ing units, projects that have not yet begun, town officials said. e retail part of Stone Bridge Cross- ing includes about a dozen inline, or connected, storefronts, totaling 120,000 square feet. e largest spaces include a 40,000-square-foot inline anchor store in the center of the retail strip with adjoining outdoor seating area, and a 22,000-square-foot space. e rest of the spaces are smaller, ranging from 2,500 to 8,000 square feet. e main building includes a

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