Bethany Florist and Gift Shoppe; not just another pretty vase!

It was 23 years ago when Anne Ciola's father and brothers bought a florist shop. They renovated it and asked Anne, who loves flowered, if she'd like to run it.  Bethany Florist and Gift Shoppe was born, although the gift shop came later when Ciola realized there weren't any in the area. The end product is a beautifully varied shop with artistically displayed gifts of every sort for every occasion. 

 All the items in the store are hand selected by Ciola, based on her gut feelings or the trusted opinions of her coworkers. She carries jewelry, scarves, handbags, home décor items, truffles, Stonewall Kitchen specialty foods, toys, baby accessories and body care, to mention but a few of the possibilities found tucked into various corners of the store. She chooses all items with her customers in mind, and since the downturn in the economy Ciola has worked hard to keep prices down, noting that almost all the scarves and pashminas they carry are less than twenty dollars. 

The only thing Ciola enjoys more than buying merchandise is working with  her staff and customers.  Most of her employees have been with her for 10 years and they have become very close-knit.

"Our staff gets along great," Ciola said, "and we're an unusual group of wonderful women, and Tom [their delivery man.]  We've been together a long time; it's a very family sort of place."

The word "family" also pops up when talking about Ciola's customers. Visiting Bethany Florist and Gift Shoppe is as much a social event as it is a shopping excursion. Ciola keeps up with her customer's lives as they stop in on their way to a party or to pick up a Sweet Shop truffle or jar of pickles. She says her work is her social life, and it's those personal connections that make her love her job.

Ciola's favorite customers are the ones who come in with no idea of what to buy, such as a husband or a boyfriend who has left anniversary/birthday/Valentine's Day shopping for the last minute. They arrive with what Ciola calls "the deer in the headlights look."  She and her staff enjoy the challenge of helping to find just the right gift, and they have plenty to choose from in the well-stocked shop.    

While she loves her gift shop, flowers still are as exciting to her as they were when she started.  Long-time employee, Sandy Scott, says Ciola is, "an unusually gifted flower designer whose style compliments and contrast beautifully with the other designers we have." 

According to Ciola she tries keep her first life as a florist a secret when she's working her second job as a nurse. It always leaks out, however, when she comment on patient's floral arrangement or blurts out the specific name of a beautiful rose.

As a long-time fixture in Bethany, Ciola's store exceeds the expectations of a florist and gift shop in a small community. She and her staff strive to provide each customer with whatever they need to find the right gift or flower arrangement as well as have an enjoyable experience.  And it's the combination of these three things, "the people, the flowers, and the gifts," that keep Ciola dedicated to her store and the community it serves.