If you live in Park Slope and see somebody walk- ing by with a gorgeous flower arrangement, there’s a good chance it came from Zuzu’s Petals. Brooklynites in the know have long flocked to the store, now officially included in the State Historic Business Preservation Registry for being a constant neighborhood business for over 50 years. Opened in 1971 and originally called Growing Things, this flower shop has a deep, multigenerational connection to Park Slope. Women owned and operated, the store has survived an economic downturn, a fire (necessitating a move from 7th Avenue to 5th Avenue), a flood, and Covid-19.
Fonda Sara, the owner, said that Growing Things, which opened in the back of a bookstore on Flatbush Avenue, quickly outgrew its first location and moved after six months to 7th Avenue. That’s when Fonda, who had moved to Park Slope a year earlier, started working at the store. She managed the store for two years, then bought it. At the time that Fonda opened her store, women couldn’t easily get credit. But Fonda had a cousin who had told her “Find something in your life that is yours, that you won’t lose no matter who dies or leaves you.” When the cousin died and left her money, Fonda bought the shop with her inheritance.
Fonda also benefitted from advice from a female manager at Chase Bank on Flatbush Avenue, who told Fonda to apply for a $5,000 loan. The manager approved the loan which let Fonda create a credit history. When Fonda incorporated her business, she learned the name Growing Things was already incorporated in NY. She chose Zuzu’s Petals from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. She said “the symbolism of the petals to me is a reality check and a confirmation of life.”
Fonda said she is honored to be included in the Historic Business Preservation Registry. Though she has stepped back from much of the daily activity in the shop, she still goes to the flower market at 4 a.m. She said “the shop has a life of its own now. I am no longer the face of Zuzu…just the heart and soul.” And the heart and soul of Park Slope as well.