Jan. 31—After 64 years in business, a Dayton-area florist plans to shut its doors today or Thursday.
Michael Trudeau, who purchased Kettering Hills & Dales Florist at 3030 Kettering Blvd. in Moraine nine months ago and rebranded it Hills & Dales Florist, said three coolers and a delivery van have broken since he became owner.
Trudeau said he is baffled that his monthly revenues haven’t matched that of the previous owners, who operated the business for 43 years.
“I was hoping that I was buying a viable business that would take me several years into the future and continue on what she had established, but that’s unfortunately not the case,” he said.
Trudeau said the store’s income and receipt records three years prior to his purchase made it seem like a viable option for him.
“It looked like this was a winning proposition, so I purchased it on good faith that this business was going to continue to grow and put some new life into it and get some new customers and (during) the nine months that I’ve owned it, I’ve never had sales figures like (the business previously) showed,” he said.
He said he is selling off Hills & Dales’ supplies to area florists, along with its domain name and a database of more than 10,000 customers.
Trudeau, who previously worked in aviation, said he plans to return to that field.