Palace
Florists, Inc.
1305 19th St., NW
Washington, DC
202-470-0507
www.palaceflorists.com
InSight: So, who were the founders
and major players at Palace
Florists?
Lee R. Herman (Executive VicePresident): The lineage goes back
three generations. Barney Klateman
founded the business in 1943. He
worked for Blackistone Florist in the
30s, where he learned the trade and
honed his craft working with floral
arrangements in an artistic way. He
decided to branch out on his own at
the location of an ice-skating rink, The
Ice Palace, which was located at
Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness
Street. The rink was upstairs, and
Barney sold fresh flowers from a kiosk
with a refrigerator. This is how the
business got its name: Palace Florists.
Barney’s youngest daughter, Donna,
joined the family business in 1978 and
her husband, Steve Dolgoff, came
aboard when they got married in 1967.
And then Donna and Steve’s two
daughters, Beth and Andrea, both
worked in the business. Beth started in
1992—and we were married in 1994—
which is when I got in. Andrea worked
with us from 1994 to 2005.
InSight: And how did the
business expand?
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Herman: Barney
expanded the
business in the
40s, to 10th and
E Street, and
moved to Dupont
Circle in 1943 to
expand once
again. The shop
had a dual
entrance on
both 19th
Street and Connecticut
Avenue. In 1950, Barney
grew the business
by acquiring the florist at the
Statler Hotel. Business was booming. Business was booming.
In the early 80s, with the pending
arrival of the subway, Palace Florists
relocated in 1985 and moved to the
south end of 19th street, one block
from Dupont Circle. This is our current
location. For those familiar with
Dupont Circle, our original shop was
located where Krispy Kreme and
Lawson’s is currently located.
InSight: That’s a lot of moving
around. Any notable moments along
the way?
Herman: Palace became the official
florist for the Republican parties at the Statler Hotel, in 1952 and 1956 for
President Eisenhower. That was an
esteemed honor. Another political
highlight: Palace created the flowers
for President Kennedy’s inaugural
party, given by Frank
Sinatra. Recently, we created
the flowers for the
Papal visit to
Washington, DC and the
funeral flowers for Tony
Snow and Tim Russert.
We always have a flow
of orders for famous
Washingtonians and
visiting celebrities.
Currently, we rank
among the top 250
florists among
approximately
22,000 Teleflora
floral companies
nationwide. |
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InSight: Has
Palace met with
challenges?
Herman: In addition to facing the
normal challenges that all small businesses
face today, there’s the ever increasing
competition from the 1-800
florists, supermarkets, and all of the
additional floral and gift services
online. It used to be that your only
option for expressing your emotions
was through sending flowers; now,
there is so much to choose from. We
have remained successful because our
focus continues to be on high-quality
fresh flowers, inspired floral design
and exemplary customer service. This
is why over three generations we have
many loyal customers and are always
earning the loyalty of new ones.
InSight: How does the family
work together?
Herman: Our family works well
together due to the fact that we all
have mutual respect for each other.
Everyone has his or her own strengths
that have developed over the years.
This helped us create job descriptions
and match them accordingly to everyone’s
individual talents. It works very
well, like an intricately designed puzzle.
It also works well because you not
only get to meet new people with
whom you work with, but we also get
to spend our work day with family we
love. We all remain sensitive to both
our work and family matters. Open
and honest communication is the key
to a healthy family business. |
