Stop by Arch in Bloom this month and be prepared to be scared.
Proprietor Derek D’Andrea, along with a team that includes his sister and fiancée, spent all summer mapping out a Halloween themed experience amid their nursery.
Make Pemberwick your destination at least once this month and behold the life-size aliens, dragons, witches and the towering skeleton keeping watch over numerous varieties of pumpkins.
What better way to showcase fall nursery products than with window displays of creepy life-sized animatronics?
“We do it for the neighborhood. We do it for the town,” D’Andrea said as local school kids called out to each other as they darted around the spooky displays. “In the morning neighborhood kids waiting for the school bus come look at the dragon and enjoy the window displays. The buzz for Halloween is starting. Everyone is really excited. They come to expect it, but we love it. I love the creative aspect and putting it together.”
D’Andrea’s enthusiasm for the community and the treat that is in store is genuine. “We love our product. We love our suppliers and love the business itself,” he said. “We’re especially happy around the holidays.”
“None of this would be possible without the overwhelming support from the neighborhood, my family, my sister Christine and my fiancée Jaime’s creative input – and of course the Arch In Bloom Team.”
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s so much fun,” D’Andrea said, adding that some of the architectural details in the display were sourced from the Monger’s Market in Bridgeport.
This year the theme is “Area 51,” with highlights including an alien autopsy and a fire breathing dragon breaking out of his crate.
“We tried to make it look like a government storage facility with green goo on the silo outside of the building,” he added. “We build all of our backdrops and displays.”
D’Andrea said when he was growing up, his father Bill would do holiday themed exhibits at the family nursery on West Putnam Ave by Greenwich Library, and he has followed suit. In fact, the D’Andrea family has been in the nursery business in Greenwich for 100 years.
When Derek found the space on Pemberwick Rd the ideas was to use it as office space. Later he added a retail element, and ultimately created a a destination for community events.
Before the pandemic he hosted a Pumpkins & Pints event that was a smash. After a hiatus in 2020 due to Covid, the event is back on! Mark Saturday, Oct 16th from 12:00pm to 6:00pm for Pumpkins & Pints 2021!
“People can expect food, drinks, apple cider, beer and wine,” he said. “A lot of folks from the neighborhood will walk over, but people can park across the street.”
Also, D’Andea said he anticipated being open for trick-or-treaters!
“Staff will be in costumes,” he said.
Arch in Bloom is located at 201 Pemberwick Road. Tel. (203) 550-1235
Find them on Instagram! or Facebook.