After tough start, business takes root

Cobb Island florist survived flooding, drive-through try

Friday, Aug. 14, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by EMILY BARNES Denise Burch, owner of Green with Envy, sells a variety of items, including outdoor decorative flags at her florist shop near Cobb Island. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Business busts: Denise Burch has a tale or two to tell about how difficult it can be to start a small business but the reasons she had a difficult time opening her florist shop near Cobb Island had nothing to do with the economy or lack of a customer base.

Burch, who has lived on Cobb Island since 1974, first opened the Green with Envy flower and gift shop in 1995 at the spot where the new Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department is currently under construction at the intersection of Main Avenue and Cobb Island Road.

In 1998 on Christmas Eve someone crashed a vehicle into the shop, fracturing the building on three sides, Burch said, adding she had already purchased the former Fisherman's Turn shop at the foot of the Cobb Island bridge in the area commonly referred to as "Chigger City" but the building was not open for business yet.

Burch finally opened the new shop in June 2000 but barely got the business rolling again before the next disaster struck — a ferocious lady named Hurricane Isabel. The storm that roared into the area in the fall of 2003 dumped 31 inches of water in the shop, completely wiping out her inventory.

"When Isabel hit it was like a sock to my stomach," Burch recalled. "The storm kind of ruined everything in the shop. I had just gotten Christmas stock. I had to take eight truckloads of stuff to the dump. I had to start all over again."

Close to closing: A little discouraged and feeling drained because of the recent loss of her mom, Polly Cain, to cancer, Burch said she almost decided to forget the whole thing and go out of business.

But Burch, who lives across Cobb Island Road from the shop, said she finally decided to roll up her sleeves and give the business one more try – a decision she said she has not regretted a bit although she does keep a wary eye on the National Weather Service whenever a hurricane is headed this way.

"The shop sits low to the water but it's been here so long and it never flooded before," she said. "I didn't worry about it but now I do."

Stars of the sea: The shop isn't just about fresh and dried flower arrangements and potted indoor plants and dish gardens, Burch said. It is also stocked with a lot of unique gift items such as shells and starfish that she paints herself, outdoor decorative flags, T-shirts and handmade jewelry.

Burch said her "starfish people" are a very popular item.

"People get a big kick out of them," she said. "I did a wedding where the couple used two of my starfish people on the top of their wedding cake. I love doing things like that."

Burch also offers personalized service to her customers for weddings, funerals, holidays and other functions.

"I've met husbands and boyfriends at the shop at 5:30 in the morning because they want their wife or girlfriend to wake up to a dozen roses," she said. "I've had men call and ask me if I've got any rose petals. I'll tell them I can rip some off a rose for you. There are still some romantics around."

Burch, a member of the Cobb Island Garden Club and Society of American Florists and secretary for the Cobb Island Citizens Association, said her love of gardening was nurtured by her late mom.

"I'm an avid gardener; I love flowers," she said, adding that she drove a Charles County school bus for 33 years. "My mom was like my best friend. She painted and sewed and was writing a book when she died. She loved flowers and gardening. Ever since I was a little girl I've dug in the dirt with my mom."

Burch said she does not have a formal staff. Instead, her husband, Joseph, and the couple's daughter, Sarah LaRoque, and friends Pat Williamson and Betty Higgs lend a helping hand when needed, especially during busy holidays such as Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.

"I do most of the deliveries myself now that the economy has gotten so bad," she said. "The economy isn't all that great but I think that I'll bounce back. I just try to stay competitive."

That computes: Burch is setting up a Web site for the shop.

"I'm trying to get in with the rest of the florists who are on the Internet," she said. "Everybody always orders flowers on the computer now."

Burch said she advises people who are thinking about starting a business to do a little homework before making the jump.

"You have to be very dedicated to it," she said. "I love it. It gives me something to do every day. I'm never bored. I've got my fingers in a lot of pots. Every day is a challenge."

Burch urges folks to regularly shop at local businesses, adding "they're the heart of Charles County. "My shop is probably one of Cobb Island's best kept secrets," she added. "It's a small place that has a lot of stuff in it. It's unique — just like Cobb Island."

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