A Country Touch Florist And Gift Shop—

A Distinctive Business Moves To A New Distinctive Home

By Kaaren Valenta

Kris and Tad Zajac had operated their business, A Country Touch Florist and Gift Shop, on Greenwood Avenue in Bethel for more than ten years when the large Victorian house across the street went on the market.

Formerly the home and office of a chiropractor, the 150-year-old building offered a charming new site for the home enhancement business that the couple had operated since 1993 in a storefront next to Edelmann Kitchen & Bath. With its covered front porch and turret, the house at 145 Greenwood Avenue stood out from its neighbors, but there was a lot of work to do inside to convert the medical office into a shop.

“We restored the original floor plan — the sitting room and parlor — because these had been made into treatment rooms,” Kris Zajac said. “We put in a whole new ceiling and painted the walls a sunny Stuart yellow.”

When customers open the door to the shop, their senses are treated to the scent of candles, fresh flowers, and potpourri and rooms of country gifts, furniture, quilts, rugs, home décor accessories, gourmet foods, and fine gifts for men.

“We have about the same square footage as we had before, but we can utilize a lot more wall space here,” Ms Zajac said. “And living upstairs is very convenient because we have two young daughters, Bethany, who is almost 5, and Alyssa, who just turned 3.”

The Zajacs both had extensive backgrounds in the floral industry.

“My parents had Youngberg’s Nursery in Danbury so I grew up in the industry,” Ms Zajac said. “Tad and I met in 1985 at Ruth Chase Flowers where he worked and his mother was the manager. We dated for four years and got married in 1990.”

The couple nearly bought a flower shop in Brookfield but were outbid. Since they had bank approval for the funding, they continued to look, liked Bethel, and found a storefront on Greenwood Avenue that had mostly recently housed a pet store.

“When we opened, we knew we couldn’t be a straight florist because there already were so many of them in the area,” Ms Zajac said. “We decided to add the gift shop because when the florist business is down, gifts are up. We also teach classes in floral design and crafting.”

Even though the couple had a successful business that had never shown a loss in its ten years of operation, getting financing for the new location was very difficult.

“Banks didn’t like it because it was a combined use,” Ms Zajac said. “Three banks turned us down. But Newtown Savings Bank had confidence in us. It’s a great bank. Edelmann’s Kitchens, which is now doing interior design too, also was financed by Newtown Savings Bank.”

“And we wouldn’t be anywhere without our families,” she said. “I’m so glad to have them.”

The closing for their new location was in May but it took until December for the renovations to be completed. “We ended up moving during our busiest season. We still haven’t had a grand opening yet,” Ms Zajac said.

Besides operating the business, Tad Zajac frequently is on the road, attending gift and flower trade shows. In the past few weeks he was at the New York Gift Show, then the Country Trade Show, and next month he will be at the New England Floral Expo in Cromwell.

“We try to have a finger in each field,” Ms Zajac explained. “Our business changes seasonally — spring merchandise is coming in now.”

Special care is taken to choose items that are affordable and unique — many from Valley Forge and the Amish country. There are upholstered chairs, cupboards, tables, lamps, and both elegant country and Victorian accessories. Gourmet and fruit baskets are available. The shop has a large inventory of fresh flowers, natural and wildlife arrangements, plants, European baskets and dish gardens, silk arrangements, dried floral arrangements, Boyds Bears collectibles, and services for weddings, sympathy, and funeral, and other occasions.

Besides offering gifts from the traditional to the primitive and being a full-service florist, there is another facet of business going on at A Country Touch. The large Victorian house has a full design area downstairs in what had been a basement, where customers learn to design fresh arrangements and to create floral accents for their homes. Some classes also are offered offsite, such as when Kris Zajac taught a class at the St Rose Women’s Club in Newtown in November.

A Country Touch is open Monday from 10 am to 6 pm; Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 am to 6 pm; Thursday 8:30 am to 8 pm; Saturday 9 am to 5 pm, and Sunday 11 am to 2 pm. There is a website at www.acountrytouch.net or call 791-8877.