"The Riverview greenhouse business dates back to 1924, when Italian immigrant Frank Bosco moved his greenhouses from Salineville to Liverpool Township acreage... The business expanded with the help of sons Sullivan Sul and Charles Chick Bosco, who had helped Frank in the greenhouses as young boys after the death of their mother Rosa.
When the main building, salesrooms, garages and some greenhouses burned in 1935, young architect Robert Beatty was hired to design a new building. Riverviews distinctive English Tudor style front was the result... During the 1950s, Frank Sr., Sul and Chick had 35 employees working in three distinct areas florist, greenhouses, and orchids (and later landscaping and nursery) selling both wholesale and retail... Chuck, son of Chick, and Frank Jr. later joined the family business. ... the orchids business split off about 1959. In the 1960s... Riverview... was known... as the country's largest orchid grower and shipper. Riverview employed 100 full-time employees. Today, Riverview Florists and greenhouses continue to operate under new ownership. Charles Bosco manages the estate of his father, who died last June... As recently as 10 years ago, Riverview Orchids... employed 400 local people for the weeks leading up to those holidays [Easter and Mothers Day]... They packed and shipped millions of orchids... Riverview Orchids has ceased operations, reportedly done in by three factors: a shortage of temporary labor, an increase in the minimum wage, and declining demand. ... the late Chuck Bosco... sold Riverview Orchids LLC four years ago to Mike Vantusko of Parma, Ohio. The Boscos helped Vantusko run the operation the past three years. Chuck Bosco died this past June at age 62. When Ohio voted in the raise in the minimum wage, (Vantusko) said it was going to boost his costs $125,000 a year and he was done. He closed it up and went back to Cleveland, said Charles Bosco. ... The passage of Issue 2 in the November election raised the minimum wage in Ohio from $5.15 to $6.85 as of Jan. 1. ... We sold all over the country, Charles Bosco said. Kmart, Wal-Mart, Giant Eagle, Walgreens, Albertsons... Back in the 90s, for both holidays... we shipped three million cymbidium orchids. ... cymbidium... Workers would place the stem of each orchid in a small vial of preservative-treated water and put the corsages in clear plastic containers, ready for sales display. They were packed in crates, then in refrigerated trucks for shipping. The rising cost of natural gas in the 70s made growing their own orchids... impractical for the Boscos. They grew all the orchids themselves up to about 1980, said Charles. They had to keep 25 acres of glass greenhouses 83 degrees in January to make them grow... Though Chuck Bosco kept a few orchids for sentimental reasons, all blossoms for the holiday business were flown in from Holland." article URL : http://www.reviewonline.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=6625 ************ Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
