Hank Cronister’s floral experience ranges from doing arrangements for royal weddings to running a flower shop in the rural town of Pittsfield, and he has now opened The Flower Factor at 401 South Grand Ave.
“I’ve been in the floral industry for the past 25 years,” Cronister said. “For many years I did this part-time; when I was working construction, I had time off in the winter and would work at local floral shops to keep myself busy.”
For several years, Cronister owned a flower shop in Pittsfield but sold the business in 2010 following a divorce. After that, he spent several years in the United Arab Emirates, working in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
“I was a florist for a five-star hotel there, and then I got recruited to work for a flower wholesaler,” Cronister said. “I did a royal wedding for the crown princess of Abu Dhabi and floral work for the King of Bahrain.”
Since moving back to central Illinois, Cronister said he’s worked for local floral shops, the past three years at Flower Connection, but his husband, Asif, encouraged him to go out on his own again.
“When Fifth Street Flower Shop closed, I bought a lot of stuff from them, including the walk-in cooler and all the shelving,” Cronister said. “The (owners) were very generous and gave me a lot of stuff as well. It was very kind of them.”
Cronister said he had his eye on the former Watts Brothers Pharmacy building since it closed down and reached out to the property owner after talking to some of the current tenants.
“I always thought the building looked like it should be a flower shop,” he said. The most recent tenant for that space was a tattoo parlor, and Cronister said the landlord agreed to refinish the hardwood floors and make other improvements to accommodate his business.
The Flower Factor officially opened Nov. 1 but Cronister said he already has plans to expand.
The man he refers to as his adopted son, Matt Coultis, currently lives in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but Cronister said Coultis and his partner are in the process of relocating to Springfield.
“He is very interested in exotic plants, and he wanted to open an aquarium store selling freshwater, tropical fish. We decided to do a plant and fish store and flower shop all combined together,” Cronister said, noting that he and Coultis previously worked together in the United Arab Emirates.
The Flower Factor currently offers plants in addition to the floral selection, but Cronister hopes to be able to expand into exotic plants and fish by next summer.
Hours of operation are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. An extended closing time of 6 p.m. on weekdays will start after Thanksgiving.
An open house is planned from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7.
