Loren Glasser-Carroto has always been a flower child.

The 34-year-old lifelong Monessen resident took over as owner of Monessen Florist 15 years ago.

But she had fallen in love with nature many years before she took root at the flower shop.

"As a kid, my parents lived in a big field. Behind us, we had a huge, wooded area," Glasser-Carroto said. "My mom used to take me flower picking. Every day, we would walk back there, and I used to bring big bouquets home. My parents would have ants all over their table and bugs from all the flowers, but she let me do it."

Glasser-Carroto began working at Monessen Florist when she was a young teenager.

She would happily go to work right after her day at Monessen High School was over.

"I always knew that I wanted to work here," she said. "When I was 15, I came down and tortured the previous owner every day for like two weeks when she had an ad in the paper because I knew that I wanted to work at a flower shop."

Glasser-Carroto grew up at a home on Pacific Boulevard, a few blocks from the store's original location in downtown Monessen.

"I either got a ride with a friend after school to the store, or my parents would bring me to the store," she said. "I loved it. I remember when I first started working there, it was Easter. I can remember walking in there and the smell of the Easter lilies. As soon as you opened the door, you could smell it. I used to get so excited just to walk in and smell it. It was heaven."

Shortly after she earned an associate degree in graphic design from Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, Glasser-Carroto decided to take over Monessen Florist at the age of 19.

"The week that I was graduating, I took over the store, so I didn't even go to my graduation there," she said.

A year into running the shop, which has been around for more than 60 years, Glasser-Carroto relocated it to the city's Park Shopping Centre plaza along Grand Boulevard.

The flower shop replaced a former convenience store, after a large-scale renovation.

The store owner said starting her business wouldn't have been possible without help from her parents, Leo and Linda Glasser.

"My parents were amazing," Glasser-Carroto said. "They signed their house on the line for my loan, so basically, if I lost the business, my parents lost their house. I had no choice. People think they were crazy, but it was actually the perfect time because I had no responsibilities. I had no house. I had no husband. I had no children. I could live and breathe this."

Glasser-Carroto said the flower shop was her life for the first several years.

"I only went home really to eat and to sleep," she said. "But, I just loved what I was doing."

Glasser-Carroto married her high school sweetheart, Chad Carroto, in 2002. Her husband helps promote Monessen Florist by designing advertising and managing the company website.

He and his wife have a 5-year-old daughter, Bella.

"I'm so grateful for the store, mostly because she was able to be here with me," Glasser-Carroto said of her daughter. "She was here from the time she was a week old. The whole back area here, we redid it so she could have her special area. I carried her in a papoose while I was making my flowers."

Monessen Florist has become Glasser-Carroto's family headquarters.

"This is where everybody comes to have our talks, to see each other, have lunch together," she said. "It's our meeting ground."

The job has changed somewhat because of family life, Glasser-Carroto said.

"My daughter is my first priority," she said. "Life is crazier and I have so much of a home life."

Glasser-Carroto said being able to rely on an experienced staff of employees has been one of the most rewarding perks on the job.

"I couldn't do it without my girls. There are no words. They're wonderful," she said. "The people that work here are just as much a part of my family as my real family is."

Glasser-Carroto said the she has been honored to follow the lives of customers who return time and time again to ask Monessen Florist to spruce up their special occasions.

"It's kind of like a timeline," she said. "You send flowers to parents when they have children. Their children come to me when they go to the prom, and then I get to do their wedding. It's kind of like full circle, watching them grow.

"The customers become a part of your family, too, because you're involved in such personal details in their lives -- their weddings, their funerals, their babies."

Many long-time customers have repaid Glasser-Carroto with their loyalty.

"We have people that have moved and they call. We ship things to their area because they only want things that we have," she said.

Glasser-Carroto said local businesses come to her and her employees, especially many local funeral homes that have made Monessen Florist their exclusive floral provider.

Originality has long been the trademark at the flower shop, which offers floral arrangements, specialty giftware and personalized items.

"Anything from here, you cannot find anywhere else," Glasser-Carroto said. "Our style is very different. We do nothing traditional. We try to do very wild, very gardeny, very unique creations. Anything you can think of, we'll incorporate -- fruits, vegetables. We pick things on the side of the road and try to incorporate them. Everything we do is different."

The extra effort and attention to detail has paid off, the owner said.

"What the store is since I took it over, we've grown about four times the size in sales," Glasser-Carroto said. "We try to be very accommodating to the customer. We really try to go out of our way for whatever they need.

"I like to bring whatever their visions are to the table. It's very fulfilling when they're very happy with what we do."

Staying competitive in an ever-changing industry has been challenging, especially during the recent economic downturn, Glasser-Carroto said.

"The trends change but also your environment changes. We've added the Lowe's, the Walmart, the grocery store flowers that have changed the whole flower industry completely," she said. "All of our inventory costs have risen, and of course, sales have declined, as they have everywhere. You have to compensate for that. We've had to make a lot of adjustments, where we buy, what we spend, and what we put into things. We try to be as economical as we can because we don't want to raise our prices."

The business endured a trying time early this year, during record snowfalls in February.

"We lost not only some business, but all of our inventory," Glasser-Carroto said. "The insurance didn't cover it because they said it was an act of God. It was a huge hit and we're kind of still recouping from that."

There is still much to sacrifice in running the business, Glasser-Carroto said.

"When people are off and enjoying their holidays is when we're down here working the most," she said.

"My husband has learned. At first he said, 'We're never going to have a normal holiday.' But this has become the normal holiday. Christmas• We've kind of just learned to bring it down here and celebrate."

Asked to reveal her favorite flower, Glasser-Carroto coyly stated, "Oh, there is no such thing. I love them all. They're wonderful."

And as much as the owner enjoys her fragrant surroundings at work, she said sharing the day with her staff is much sweeter.

"The girls, we always talk about this is our escape, this is our release," she said. "We get to come down and create. We get to vent with each other. There's never a day I dread coming to work."

Monessen Florist is gearing up for its annual open house celebration, "Home for the Holidays."

The sale event will take place 4 to 8 p.m. Nov. 12 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 13.

Monessen Florist, located at 1743 Grand Blvd., is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

It is not open Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

For more information, visit the shop's website , or call (724) 684-4211.

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