Business & Tech

PearTree Merges with Floral Shop

Joe and Barbara Sutton are handing the business they've ran since 1987 over to PearTree owner Kim Kornblatt.

Kim Kornblatt, who runs , emphasized that as the new owner of the , the same items and services will be offered, and the phone number will stay the same.

And “what I really want to get across is the staff is staying,” said Kornblatt, who became owner of the floral shop Tuesday upon buying the business from Joe and Barbara Sutton. “I’ve always had a love for flowers.” 

The two stores are joined together in downtown Powder Springs along Marietta Street. The florist shop is about 4,000 square feet, while PearTree is about 1,200. PearTree recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. 

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Though she’s still working out many of the details, Kornblatt said some of the additions to the combined stores will be live garlands and wreaths for Christmas, an additional floral designer that brings the merged staff to six, and combo deals that include discounts on floral arrangements.

“It’s going to be a one-stop shop,” she said. 

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PearTree used to be closed on Mondays but will now be open since the florist shop was. The new hours for the stores are:

  • Monday-Wednesday, Friday-Saturday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Thursday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The stores are continuing their Christmas open house today and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Kornblatt said author Lauretta Hannon’s literary loft, , will be moving from the top floor of the florist shop by the end of the year because of the storage space needed for the combined stores.

Oddly enough, Sutton owns the building that houses PearTree, while he pays rent on the florist shop’s building, which has been around since the late 1800s and has housed an assortment of businesses over the years.

Kornblatt said Joe Sutton didn’t want to sell the business “to just anybody.”  

“He’s my landlord, and we really hit it off,” she said.

The Suttons bought the business themselves in 1987, and they were told then that it had been open since 1978.

Joe Sutton, 70, said that in the ‘80s, his wife was looking for a job with less stress than her previous one. The job hunt was tough, he added, and when the owner of the Powder Springs Florist said there wasn’t work available, Barbara offered to work there for free.

“I think the lady started feeling guilty, so she started paying her minimum wage,” Joe said, noting the work evolved into part time, then full time, then ownership. 

Joe will be hanging around for three months to help the combined staff with the computers, and introduce them to customers and suppliers. 

After that, he said he’ll begin enjoying his “second retirement.”

He worked for Quaker State Oil for 30 years. But after retiring, Barbara, now 73, fell ill and he had to take on more responsibility at the florist shop.

It’s going to be somewhere between easy and hard to say goodbye to the Powder Springs Florist store, Sutton said.

The easy part became obvious following surgery in July.

“I was home recuperating for two months,” Sutton said, “so I said, ‘Gosh, that store’s running without me. I don’t really have to be there.’”

The hard part: the customers. “I’ve met a lot of people over the years,” Sutton said. “I’m going to miss seeing them.”

So what’s next for Sutton?

“I’ve got it narrowed down: I’m either going to try to bag groceries at Kroger or be a greeter at Wal-Mart,” he joked.

With more seriousness, he said that he doesn't know specifically what he’ll do other than trying to stay busy. He did note that he has two grandkids: a 16-year-old in Haralson County and a 12-year-old in Idaho, who he and his wife see only once every two or three years.


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