Colonial Flower Shop in Lake Ronkonkoma closes after 67 years in business

Colonial Flower Shop in Lake Ronkonkoma, a longtime floral design business known for its community involvement and generosity, has closed after 67 years in business, its longtime owners confirmed.

The shop, at 304 Hawkins Ave., officially closed on Nov. 1 and has since transferred its business phone line to Bayport Flower Houses at 940 Montauk Hwy., according to Thomas Salamone, who has owned and operated Colonial for the past 30 years with his wife, Angela.

"The reason why I’m closing is because the lord is telling me to," Salamone said Monday evening. "Ronkonkoma is a wonderful town, it’s a tight-knit town, and it was such a pleasure to serve everybody for weddings, for funerals and for births."

Salamone announced the closure in a Facebook message to customers Tuesday, more than a week after the shop closed. Salamone said he and his wife purchased the business and the flower shop’s building — the original firehouse for the Ronkonkoma Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 in the early 1900s — in 1995, after he had worked for years as a carpenter. 

The 4,500-square-foot building was built in 1904, according to CoStar Group, a commercial real estate data provider. The florist business has been in operation since 1959, according to Colonial's website. 

Salamone, who declined to provide his age, said he has sold the building but doesn’t plan to fully retire and is "going to do other things." While he could not provide additional details about what will take the place of the flower shop, he said, "It will be something that the community will welcome."

"It won’t be a vape shop," he joked.

Michele Kitterle, vice president of the Ronkonkoma Chamber of Commerce, said Colonial and its owners have been generous members of the local business community for years.

"Tom has always been an amazing member of the Ronkonkoma community," said Kitterle, owner of Michele Scully Allstate Agency in Ronkonkoma. "He has always donated his time."

Kitterle said Salamone regularly offered discounts on flowers for community events, and last year donated centerpieces and decor for the annual Taste of Ronkonkoma hosted by the chamber.

"He was always there to lend a hand," she said.

Salamone, who credits the business' longevity to his wife and business partner, said the couple was "passing the torch to Bayport Flower Houses."

"The phone number will stay, and it goes directly to them," he said. "Their quality is as high there as it was here."