'Friends' Guest Column: Heights Florist Shoppe's Vorisek Believes in Personal Service

Editor's note: As part of their fundraising efforts for this year, the Friends of
the Hasbrouck Heights Library is asking area businesses to offer
discounts to library supporters who join their Friends Merchants
program. Friends' Justin Watrel has prepared profiles of
participating businesses, which Patch has agreed to publish one to two times per month throughout the year. Patch plays no role in selecting the
businesses or writing the profiles.

The retail climate is beginning to change as the Internet has made shopping easier. With the click of a button, a person can order anything he or she desires from a cupcake to a car. Convenience doesn’t always go hand in hand with personal service when something extra special or an unusual request is required. That comes from a store with a warm, inviting environment and personal friendly service.

When it changed locations, Heights Floral took a rundown building, perked it up and created a smart, warm homey feeling that engages customers to selection of merchandise from an array of flowers to assorted gifts.

“My favorite story is the time I was working one weekday morning and someone knocked on my door before I opened,” said owner Ray Vorisek. “A gentleman was in desperate need of a certain flower and needed it immediately, so I opened the store especially for him. It made him extremely happy. Months later when he got engaged, he and his fiancé came to the store to price flowers for their wedding. I ended up helping them with their order. It sometimes is the little things that people remember and that creates loyal customers. It’s going the extra mile to make them happy.”

Ray Vorisek, the owner of Heights Floral, opened the shop 25 years ago in downtown Hasbrouck Heights.

“I fell into the floral industry when I was in college. I was delivering items for a butcher shop that also had interest in a flower shop as well, so I made those deliveries. When I graduated from college, I started to work for a store called ‘Springtime Florist’ and then for ‘Hoverman’s, which was a big florist in Rochelle Park. When a family owned store was up for sale in Hasbrouck Heights, I bought the business and renamed it Heights Floral Shoppe.”

Vorisek was born and raised and has lived in Little Ferry for 54 years. He is the son of Mary Vorisek and the late Raymond Vorisek Senior. He and his wife, Cheryl, live in Little Ferry with their two children, Zackery and Jillian.

Vorisek’s mother, Mary, works in the store with him and she, along with the rest of the staff gives the store that friendly, family feeling.

“My mom works so hard in the store. She makes sure that all the flowers are washed when they come in and she has a real attention to detail. She is also a great cook and makes delicious lunches when we work together.”

A graduate of William Patterson College, Vorisek studied both business and art history, which both came in handy when he decided to get into the floral and gift business.

“We have all sorts of special orders from the traditional bouquets for the holidays to the unique like a seven foot dove I did recently for a wedding,” Vorisek explained. Heights Floral will customize all sorts of designs for its clients from a bouquet of carnations for a house visit to elaborate funeral blankets for a loved one. The shop does not just handle flowers, but a wide array of gift items as well.

A step into Heights Floral Shoppe is to enter a fantasy world of unusual displays and original one of a kind merchandise housed in a store that would remind the customer of exploring their grandmother’s home. The staff at Heights Floral has the store fully decorated for Halloween, with masks, costumes and glittering pumpkins.

“We have a complete line of aroma tea candles, hand-painted glassware and will customize a gourmet basket of assorted goodies located around the store. For the upcoming Holiday season, we will be bringing in David Bradley Chocolates, an exclusive line of homemade chocolates made in Southern New Jersey,”  Vorisek said. “These chocolates are not found in many stores and we are hoping to find more one of kind gifts to sell in the shop.”

Now open is the second floor of Heights Floral, where an array of furniture, specialty dolls, frames, lamps and decorative items are for sale. The second floor of the store is also open as a café. “I wanted to have a place of calm for my customers after they finish their shopping or a place for people to come to for a great cup of coffee and a pastry,” Vorisek explained. “I will also open the second floor up for private parties, book discussions, children’s theme parties and Teddy Bear Teas for the holidays. We can plan parties from four to 15 people.

"We will let a client bring in his or her own caterer or we can work with you and plan the whole event. We plan on featuring sandwiches, pastries, desserts, coffees and teas and all sorts of soft drinks. It’s worth a trip to the second floor of our store.”

“We had a fall party to display our new merchandise for the holiday season and then as we got closer to Christmas, we had our annual Holiday Open House the first Sunday of December and this was hugely successful. We will help our customers with decorating ideas for their homes; give them advice on what will work in their budget.”

Vorisek added, “Last year for our fall event, we had a very popular petting zoo in our parking lot and it really stopped traffic when people saw a llama and a donkey on top of the other animals on view from the Boulevard. It was extremely popular with the kids. These are the lengths we will go to make the shopping experience fun. We have all sorts of special events planned for the spring as well.”

As our president of the Hasbrouck Heights Chamber of Commerce,  Vorisek is trying to jump start interest again of people strolling down the Boulevard to shop.

“We are trying to find ways to get the citizens of Hasbrouck Heights to walk their downtown again. The Farmers Market has become a big success with extended hours to six in the evening, with new signage and many new vendors including a very popular Amish baker and gourmet foods from Hoboken Farms. In its new location, across from the library, the market has more space for people to move around. I would also like to see the restaurants open outdoor cafes when the weather is nice. We are also trying to address the parking situation.

"We are creating networking breakfasts for businesses to get together, swap ideas and get to know one another. We are getting the word out to all Hasbrouck Heights merchants that the chamber is there for them and to encourage them to join. We need people whose opinions will help make the downtown better. We have a lot of great businesses that you would not find in the local mall.”

“I want to promote that intimate, small town feeling to our downtown,” Vorisek added. “We have so much to offer if people took the time to walk their downtown. We’re in the middle of town and a short walk to most people.”

As for his business, “I do my best to customize orders for our clientele and I have always felt that when you do a little extra, people will remember it.”