Punt at new career a masterstroke
STUCK in a rut in their respective careers, a Townsville couple decided to roll the dice and purchase four florists 26 years ago despite “not really knowing anything about flowers”.
Two and a half decades later, that decision by Anna and George Gianoulis has turned out to be a masterstroke.
The owners of successful chain Malpara Florist have been voted as Townsville’s best flower store by
Bulletin readers. “I was a bookkeeper and my husband was in real estate when we bought the four stores in 1995,” Mrs Gianoulis recalled.
“George had been in real estate for 14 years and started to feel burnt out in that area so we wanted to buy a business.
“I grew up in a small corner store, so I said to him ‘‘I’m happy with anything, just don’t get me into a fish shop or small corner store’.”
Mrs Gianoulis only knew of roses and carnations before they took over the stores and said the first year was a “huge learning curve”. Having sold their store at the hospital, the couple have also been forced to shut stores at Willows and in the city for financial reasons.
They now just operate two stores, located in Hermit Park and Kirwan.
Mrs Gianoulis said they’d had a strong 18 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People aren’t in touch with each other and they are reaching out with flowers,” she said.
“Flowers are great in terms of sending love, or for any emotion really. “A lot of people also buy flowers just for themselves to enjoy.”
The business operators are just as passionate about flower power as they were when they first began.
“You can never let your guard down, it’s forever changing just like fashion. When we bought the business it was a very cottagey industry, but the flower industry has grown a lot over the years.
“We’re only as good as our staff and we have amazing employees. A lot of them have been with us for many years.”