Even though many Waynesboro students have lived in the area for their entire lives, they may not know all of the interesting businesses and organizations that exist here. Eichholz Flowers has been a staple downtown for more than one hundred years and has an interesting history of bringing beautiful flowers to their customers.
Before diving into Eichholz Flowers themselves let's take a look at what goes into running a small business. For help with this, I turned to Mr. Fisher, one of the three teachers at Waynesboro Area Senior High School who helps run FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America).
“Running a small business can be very complicated. You wear a lot of different hats. For example, you could do customer service, marketing, accounting, product development, and the list goes on and on. It’s hard work, stressful, and very risky.” Fisher said, he also added “Approximately 70% of businesses fail after 10 years. However, it can be extremely rewarding. Pursuing your passion and making your own decisions can be very rewarding. Many former [Waynes] Boro students run landscaping companies, gyms, pizza establishments, and coffee shops to name a few.”
Now that what it takes to run a small business has been established, let's get into the Eichholz Flowers business. For starters, the business is a 5 generation business and was started by Henry and Herman Eichholz, two German immigrants. Henry opened the shop in 1894, making it the oldest open shop in Waynesboro. He went on to employ his son Herman, then current owner Jon Ingels’ grandfather bought the shop after working there his whole life, then the shop fell into his dad’s hands, and finally, in 2012 Jon Ingels took over for his father. The shop used to be located on South Potomac Street around where Clever’s printing currently is, according to Mr. Ingels. Then in the 1930’s Herman would move the shop to where it currently resides at 133 East Main Street.
Located across from the post office, the store is convenient for many people. First off the shop is open from 8 AM-5 PM on Monday-Friday and 8 AM-2 PM on Saturday and closed on Sunday. It is on the corner and is a brick building that is on the same side as the hospital. The shop allows in-store shopping, curbside pickup, and they even deliver. They sell 30 different types of flowers and 50 different types of flower arrangements. As for the flowers themselves, they get shipped in from Colombia and Ecuador, and you don’t have to worry about flowers already being dead because Mr. Ingels and the employees sift through all the flowers and get rid of the ones that don’t meet their standards.
Mr. Ingels when asked if he would want either or both of his two daughters to take over when he retires he said “I’ve thought about it, my oldest is thirteen, so I think it’s too early to say.” he also went on to add “But if they would want to go that direction I would encourage it, but I would definitely make sure they know the pros and cons to this.” However no matter who takes over for Mr. Ingels I am certain that Eichholz Flowers will not be going anywhere.
For more information please visit their website at https://www.eichholzflowers.com/ or call 717-762-7131.