A Germantown institution for 35 years, The Flower Source will be closing by the end the year, owner Kostas Koutantzis said.
The site of the flower and greenhouse business, which spreads across roughly 15 acres southeast of Mequon and Pilgrim roads at W156 N11124 Pilgrim Road, was sold earlier this month to Milwaukee-based commercial real estate company Greywolf Partners for $1.3 million.
Wally Sauthoff, managing director for NAI Greywolf Brokerage, who brokered the sale, said the land will likely be used for some kind of redevelopment but that he wasn’t sure what.
“Our client Greywolf Partners, they already have an acre available at the corner, and they wanted to add this to the portfolio,” Sauthoff said. “I don’t know that there are future plans. They just took advantage of an opportunity to buy more land at that corner.”
Koutantzis, 75, said he was already thinking of retiring when the opportunity to sell the land came up.
“I am getting older. The facility is getting older, and I don’t have anyone to take over, so we decided it was a good time to do it,” he said, adding that, “Everything fell into place.”
Although finding labor had been difficult in recent years, Koutantzis said he was heartened by the overwhelming support he’s received from customers, many of whom have been saddened to hear of the business’ pending closure.
“It was an adventure to say the least,” he said.
Koutantzis said he plans to start winding things down by Thanksgiving, stopping deliveries, while the business will remain open through at least part of December, as long as there are bargain hunters shopping and stock still available.
“I am not short of time anymore,” Koutantzis said with a laugh.
