When Growing Is a Family Legacy
Where flowers bloom, gifts abound and a business continues to change and flourish … you’ll find Deborah and Stephanie Genrich
By Linda Quinlan
She may not have started her career thinking it would be in the flower, garden and gifts business. But it’s clear that today Deborah Genrich wouldn’t have it any other way.
She has been involved in Genrich’s Garden Center, on Cooper Road in Irondequoit, since she married Ralph Genrich III, son of the business founder, Ralph Jr., in 1998.
Little did she know that 16 years later, she’d be running the business herself with one of her husband’s two daughters, who were 3 and 5 when their father married.
Ralph III died suddenly in February 2014, at 50. His father, who hadn’t been active in the business then, died in 2017. Deborah’s mother-in-law, Mary Ellen, also a big part of the business, had died in 2006.
Today, Deborah oversees the operation of the business and the retail front end, while stepdaughter (more like “daughter”), Stephanie, manages the greenhouse side and growing.
“It was scary,” when Ralph died, Deborah said. “But I was fortunate the girls were here and old enough and mature enough to step in, too.”
Stephanie’s sister, Heather, also continues to help with the business as she can. She and her husband have relocated to Ohio, where she works in a large commercial greenhouse.
She was married — in the Genrich greenhouse about five years ago — as was another couple a few months later.
“It’s important to us to be a team,” Deborah said, though there have been challenges, especially as an all women-owned business.
“We changed things to make them work more efficiently for us and we’re hiring more things out …. There’s been a learning curve to some of that,” Deborah said. “Ralph could fix anything and do anything.”
“I feel like he [Ralph] would be proud of us and definitely be proud of the girls,” she said. “We’re always trying to evolve and stay ahead of the curve. This was Ralph’s dream; his baby. I’m happy we’ve been able to keep that legacy alive — as a tribute to him but also to my in-laws as well.”
Stephanie recalled that she started in the greenhouse at a tender age with her dad, filling pots and trays and today feels “like a jack of all trades.
“I love what I do. I love all the different departments, the change of seasons … It’s a good diversity,” she said.
Today, Deborah said she just loves the connections with customers and the community “and just being part of people’s lives … We’re a generational business and I think we’ve become a fixture in the community. I love that.”
The business has a history that dates back to 1960.
Originally from Brighton, Deborah’s grandfather and uncle had a fur business, Berman Furs, in Rochester and later in Brighton for 50 years. Her father had a well-known interior design business and she worked with him for 15 years, then later for a tax service company.
She met her future husband at a bar through a mutual friend and two days after being married, she was full-time at his garden center.
Deborah and her mother-in-law expanded the center’s gift shop considerably. The business has been remodeled and revamped over the years. Most recently, an indoor patio area, where classes and workshops are offered, was installed two years ago. Just this year, Stephanie revamped a courtyard area for a U-cut garden for customers. The latter also involved transforming one of the center’s greenhouses for cut flowers. Currently, it’s where 3,500 tulips have been planted for cutting — hopefully, early in the new year.
The florist side of the business has also started offering what it calls “foraged” bouquets from the home-grown selections as well.
The women have homes on either side of the business and both garden at home, “but I’m here (at the business) more than I’m home,” Deborah said.
The greenhouses are still the biggest part of the business, which her father-in-law had started as a small garden center. Her mother-in-law went to floral design school in the 1970s, when the floral department took off.
Since COVID-19, the floral department hasn’t been as big, Deborah said, but the pandemic had its own “gift.” Since more people were home, more took an interest not only in their gardens, but also in gathering houseplants for their interiors.
“It became a huge hobby because there was a lot people couldn’t do,” she said.
With people continuing to work from home, it’s also a hobby that has continued. “We keep the greenhouse stocked all winter,” she added.
“We’ve been lucky,” Deborah admitted, adding that the gift shop has also become a favored destination with its wide selection of items at various price points. She sets up many of the stunning displays, though Stephanie helps with that as well.
The center employs six to 10 in the off-season, but in season, which starts at the end of February, it has 15 or more employees.
“One of the other things I love about this business is how rewarding it is to see a plant that we start from a tiny little plug grow and mature in the greenhouse, then flourish to its potential, then bring so much joy to the person who purchases it for their garden,” Deborah said.
Then, “It’s awesome when customers return with pictures of their landscape to show us how big something got or how many tomatoes a plant produces. There’s so much satisfaction in all of that,” she added.
Like Stephanie, she said, spring brings “an adrenaline rush with how busy we are, but at the end of the day, there’s this huge sense of accomplishment.”
Planting is a nearly year-round effort. Boston fern baskets are getting ready now, Deborah said. They start planting hydrangeas around Christmastime so they bloom for Easter. Annuals and hanging baskets are the focus starting in late February.
“We hit the ground running, big time, in March and that goes through at least the end of July,” Deborah said. “In the springtime, it doesn’t seem like there are enough hours in the day …. But, I love getting up every day and going to work.”
Spring is 100 days of a lot of hard work, Stephanie agreed. “But I love watching things grow,” she added.
Off-season hours, when they are open just Wednesday through Saturday, do give her more time for “life,” whether it’s laundry or grocery shopping, Deborah admitted. “It’s heavenly to me.”
Deborah, 66 and Stephanie, 30 and their staff like sharing their knowledge of plants, too.
People also ask her “all the time,” Deborah said, when she plans to retire.
The truth is, there is no plan. “I just love what I do,” she said.
Not surprisingly, Deborah likes gardening herself, especially container gardening. She also likes reading and belongs to a book club that has met at the center since the pandemic. She likes traveling and is recently back from Key West, but also enjoys the Finger Lakes area.
The business can still be affected by the variability of the weather. “If we have a cold spring or late frost, that can wreak havoc, but it’s out of our control,” Deborah explained. “And I like to be in control.”
The center still grows about 75% of what it sells, including poinsettias, annuals, perennials, some succulents and flowering hanging baskets. Some more exotic houseplants are trucked in from Florida.
“I just love walking through the greenhouse, especially when it’s not open,” Deborah said. “It’s so tranquil; it’s good for the soul.”
As for what the future will bring, there have, jokingly, been discussions about opening a coffee shop in the beautiful indoor patio area. “We may have something in the works,” Deborah hinted.
The center does close for three weeks in January. She and Stephanie do get some rest and relaxation. But it’s also a time for doing inventory and maintenance that can’t be done other times of the year.
“We call it our winter refresh,” Deborah said.
She also finds time to maintain the center’s pleasing and informative Facebook page, but adds that employee Christine Kirchgessner provides the beautiful pictures that populate it.
While Stephanie can be found almost anywhere at the business, she said she loves it all, but especially the quiet days.
She keeps plants at home, too, along with her two dogs, and has a passion for growing zinnias.
Stephanie designed the spectacular holiday-themed hanging baskets sold at the center at Christmastime.
“It’s just me, doing my own thing,” Stephanie said with a smile.
And continuing a family tradition entering its 65th year in 2025.