ASTORIA FLOWER SHOP FORCED TO MOVE AFTER 92 YEARS BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO After providing Astoria with flower arrangements for close to a century, Teddy’s Florist has been pruned from the place it called home. Since 1922, Teddy’s Florist stood at 22-41 31st St. providing all kinds of floral arrangements. Originally owned by the Kostakis family, the shop was sold in 1984 to George Stelios and his sister Clare Petropoulos, who continued news 24 JUNE 2014 I LIC COURIER I www.queenscourier.com the business. “You couldn’t ask for better landlords. They were very reasonable, friendly and easy to communicate with,” Stelios said. “Peter Kostakis actually told us we were more like family to him.” However, three years ago property owner Peter Kostakis decided it was time to retire and looked to sell. After other potential buyers fell through, Kostakis sold the property to Botsaris Morris Realty Group. Then, according to Stelios, Peter Botsaris of the realty group gave the family a call last Christmas Eve and asked them to vacate the shop by the first week of January. Stelios’ sister responded by asking to wait until after New Year’s Day, which Botsaris allegedly did but was in the store the day after New Year’s trying to get them out. “He told us he didn’t need our measly monthly rent,” Stelios said. According to the family, Botsaris raised the rent 400 percent and after taking Botsaris to court, it was decided the family had to move out of the location by the end of May. On May 17, the brother and sister vacated the location and went on to find a new home for the business. A couple of days after, a friend told them about a vacant location at 21-75 35th St., which used to be a pastry shop, and they decided it was a perfect fit. “It was like a blessing. It was very hard because we couldn’t find anything while we were still there at the old location,” Stelios said. For Stelios’ fiancée, Astoria resident Sophia Christofides, seeing the empty storefront hit close to her heart because as a young teen she would always pass by shop. “It’s sad. Teddy’s is like a landmark, it’s like a memory as you’re growing up and being that it’s not there it’s just sad,” Christofides said. Still, while going through some renovations and in the process of installing a refrigerator to keep the flowers fresh, the family has handed out flyers and started to spread the news of their new location. Customers have already come by and business is starting to bloom once again, according to Stelios. “It’s bittersweet and in the beginning it was a little scary. We feel a little excited because it’s a change. A lot of people have been welcoming us here,” he said. “We become friends with our customers. We aren’t like any other florists — we have personality and with us it’s friendship,” According to Department of Building records, an application has been submitted to turn 22-41 31st St. into a restaurant. Calls to both the restaurant’s owners and Botsaris Morris Realty Group were not returned as of press time. Photos by Angy Altamirano Brother and sister duo George Stelios and Clare Petropoulos, who took over Teddy’s Florist 30 years ago, were forced to move out of the location where the shop stood for almost a century.
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