Edwards Florist in Winnetka set to close after over 100 years in business

As the hours tick toward a final closing of Winnetka’s Edwards Florist, David and Nancy Hook are looking back with fondness on what their business has meant for families.

“We’ve had a bride’s wedding and now we are doing the daughter’s,” Nancy Hook said. “That’s kind of cool.”

The recollections are blooming now with the Hooks set to shut down the store and accompanying greenhouse on Oct. 31.

The Hooks have seen many gardenias, tulips and roses in their time, establishing friendships with many customers along the way.

“I’ve known families for a long time, the second and third generation,” David said.

The current business dates back to 1847, according to the Hooks, but question remains about the ownership back then, the type of operation it was beyond selling vegetables and when it became exclusively a florist.

What David Hook does say is that in 1905, Mr. Edwards — he did not know his first name — purchased the business. He ran it until 1950 when it was sold to another family.

10 years later, George Hook bought the store and by 1975, David Hook was working full time at the store and the entire family lived in an accompanying second floor apartment.

“I did everything, I helped process the flowers and helped with the wrapping of the arrangements,” he recalled.

In 1993, David married Nancy, who had worked at a Wilmette flower store and since then the two of them have run the operation.

For these nearly 30 years, the couple who live in Northbrook have created many arrangements for parties, wedding and funerals.

“The different flowers each season and the creativity you get with each party and whatever they are going to choose to do,” Nancy said. “It is very creative and it is very artistic.”

The couple spoke of a business that has changed with flowers becoming more readily available at large retail outlets, forcing them to adjust and come up with creative ideas to entice customers.

“Someone would want something more unusual than that,” Nancy said.

Their association with the community was evident in early September when the Winnetka Historical Society created a Facebook tribute to Edwards with many people providing anecdotes about important family events.

Yet flowers don’t last forever and neither do businesses. Thus, the Hooks are moving on.

They say the greenhouse requires extensive maintenance and like so many other businesses, they are feeling the frustration of inflation, supply chain issues and the labor shortage.

“It’s hard to find labor right now. It is hard to find designers, good experienced ones,” said Nancy, noting how they employed 20 people in 2008. Today, the staff is down to 12.

After so many years of preparing flowers, now the couple wants the proverbial opportunity to smell them with plans to an end of the perpetual seven day workweeks, their first vacation in 15 years, a knee replacement for Nancy and greater opportunities to see friends and relatives.

“We haven’t been to a lot of weddings because we had weddings we had to work,” she said.

They are looking to sell the building, which exists in a residential area on Willow Road. The possibility exists the property could be converted to houses.

“The business is grandfathered under the zoning code and could continue to operate in the residential zoning district,” explained Winnetka Community Development Director David Schoon. “Under the current zoning, the property could not be used for other business uses.”

As they prepare to say goodbye, David Hook hopes the customers look back with smiles.

“I hope people remember the happy times,” he said. “Such as weddings, anniversaries and birthdays and our contribution to the community.”

Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.