The floral design studio of COMPANY
FLOWERS & GIFTS TOO! is located on two floors of the headquarters at: 2107 N. Pollard
Street in North Arlington, opposite the historic Cherrydale Fire
House on Lee Highway just before the Military Road/Quincy Street
intersection.
The studio's phone is 703/525-3062. The international
(limited) and domestic (full) 1-800 number is 1-800-808-2222. Studio
doors open at 98 am each morning but Sunday, and they close at
6 pm. Driving Directions
Obviously, the strength of the studio is its people. Here's a rundown on staff:
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Marnie
Nicholson, proprietor
Owner, operator, and chief designer, Marnie had the desire to be the impetus
for Company Flowers! She, with a close friend, began designing flowers
for her church, eventually doing weddings, and then creating her own commercial
(non-retail) business in the basement of a caterer-friend. In 1991, she
and her husband bought "Johnson's" flower
shop (never associated with the Johnson's Garden Shops of DC and MD) in
Arlington, and it's grown through her leadership and design skills ever
since. |
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Wendy
Bailey, co-owner
Daughter Wendy, after college, joined her parents at Company Flowers before
meeting her husband, Dr Joseph Bailey of the Smtih Business School of the
University of Maryland. While he was obtaining his phD from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, she was a designer and manager at several Boston-area
flower shops. With two small children, she still finds time to assist in
the development of the shop's giftware displays/greeting cards |
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John
Nicholson, co-owner
After 30 years of being a newspaper editor, lobbyist, cheif executive of
a national trade association, and Federal government appointee, John "retired" to
promote and support the business of his wife's enterprise. |
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Jane
Winter, Chief Designer
Jane manages the design studio of Company Flowers! Before joining the Nicholsons
shortly after they bought the old Johnson's of Arlington, Jane had owned
her own flower shop in Georgetown (with Anne Holcomb, who is in charge
of Company Flowers' shop on Tuesdays!). Jane’s floral designs have drawn
prizes and honors from Nantucket to La Jolla. |
Keystone to the supporting staff “upstairs” meeting
the public, answering the phones, and overseeing the giftware is
Kelly Haines, a student of advanced illustration. She supervises
our staff of part-timeers, has developed expertise on giftware
and hand-held designs of flowers as well as mastering our computer.
Kelly is assisted especially by Kendall Greenway,
who has developed substantial floral expertise over the past three
years and is considering a design career. More recently, Christine
Orzechowski joins other part-timers in providing customer relations
with skill and patience.
The stalwarts of the production studio downstairs,
under supervision of Jane Winter, are Bolivian designers Betty
Sejas and sister Alicia Soto. Cousin Celinda Sejas provides the
vital function of cleaning and preparing the flowers.
The most visable, and therefore important, job
is presenting our product to the recipient. That's what our drivers
are trained to do! We are fortunate to have several young drivers
fighting traffic during each day, especially Ros Whiting, whose
expertise on the computer is especially reknown for helping speed
up deliveries!
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