ATHOL — The new owners of Flowerland, located at 501 Main St., will continue to provide flowers for weddings and funerals, anniversaries and other special occasions, or “just because.” They are, however, combining the flower shop with the business they’ve operated for the past seven years.
“We’re going to be a medieval, magical and metaphysical shop, along with a healing center, said Patrick DiPietro, who, with his wife, Diane, has operated Tintagels Gate next door to Flowerland.
“We’re doing flower arrangements, we’re doing deliveries, “said Diane. “It’s no different than what people have been familiar with — we’re just offering more features.”
“We moved into town about 11 years ago,” said Patrick. “About seven years ago — almost eight now — we met Herb and Coco and the unit was available next door at 505 Main St. So, we asked if we could move in, Herb shook my hand, I went off and did a show in Florida, and when we came back, Tintagels Gate was born.”
Herb and Colleen “Coco” Wheeler started Flowerland some four decades ago.
“A couple of years ago,” said Patrick, “Herb was thinking about retiring, so he talked to his kids about it but they’ve all got jobs, they’re all grown up and off doing their own thing now. So, he approached us and asked us if we wanted to buy the building. I said, ‘Sure, I think so.’ It needs a lot of work but we said, ‘Sure no problem, we’ll take it on.’”
“I asked if the business went with it,” Patrick continued, “and he said ‘yes.’ So, we’re going to try to do what he’s done for the past 40 years. We want to carry it forward.”
Patrick added, “The reason we opened up shop in town is because we’re trying to help the community. We’re trying to be community-based.”
“There’s a lot of overlap we can put together and play with, with plants and flowers and growing things,” added Diane.
“We have dried herbs right now,” said Patrick, “but we’re also going to be doing fresh herbs and plants.”
“We’ve been practicing magic and earth-based spirituality for years,” said Diane. “We always thought it would be really cool if we could open a metaphysical store.”
Neither of the couple had run their own business before moving to Athol. Patrick worked for Verizon, before retiring after 29 years, and Diane had been a mechanical designer at Bose Corp. in Framingham.
Both DiPietros say they were immediately welcomed to town, despite the non-traditional nature of their business.
“I describe it as Old Age meets New Age,” Patrick said. “A lot of the stuff that people are doing now on the holistic side of things is what we believe in. We believe in the earth, we believe in the moon, we believe in the cycles; not ‘hugging’ everything, but believing we need to work with it instead of against it. People need a base, fundamentally, of goodness, and that’s what we teach.”
In addition to flowers, Flowerland will also offer jewelry, essential oils, crystals, and a wide variety of other items. Tintagels provides several services, including Tarot card and palm readings, and Eden Energy Medicine, all practiced by Diane. Patrick said he hopes to find add Reiki to the services offered.