Celebrating a mother-daughter duo who spread beauty through flowers!

May 7, 2018

Written By

Mary Friona Celani

As we get ready to celebrate moms all over, I thought it was a good time to talk about a mom-daughter duo who’ve been spreading beauty through flowers for quite some time.

Sandy Vogel and Alicia Reilly are  owners of William’s Florist & Gift House in West Seneca. The mom-daughter duo have a passion for flowers and love bringing joy to Western New Yorkers with their beautiful flowers.

The store was opened in 1972 by William, who was Sandy’s late husband and Alicia’s father. Sandy and Bill ran the store for years together, and Alicia grew up as a child wandering the floral wholesale houses with her father. Her parents’ intention was for her to go to college and get out of retail. So, she did. Alicia earned her degree and worked in the corporate world until her passion for floral artistry, her close relationship with her mother and her underlying entrepreneurial spirit pulled her back to the family business. Alicia joined her mother Sandy years after her father’s passing, and they’ve been running the business together ever since.

 

For Alicia and Sandy, working together is a blessing. They are passionate, driven, emotional women who love what they do.  Whether creating florals for a birthday, a new baby, a funeral or a wedding, they feel honored to be part of their customers’ special occasions, just as they are an integral part of each other’s life events.  Because their bond is so great and their business is small, the William’s family extends beyond Sandy and Alicia.  They have 10 dedicated, loyal employees whom they consider family. In fact, they call Sandy their “Flower Mama.”

 

Sandy and Alicia feel their trade brings joy to those who need it! Many of their floral recipients on Mother’s Day are moms whose kids live out of town and can’t spend the holiday with them. They feel honored to be able to work together while spreading a bit of happiness to lots of other moms on this special day. Since they value work/life balance, William’s is actually closed on Mother’s Day because 6 out of 10 of their employees are moms themselves. William’s does most of their Mother’s Day deliveries on Thursday 5/10, Friday 5/11 and Saturday 5/12.

 

 

You can learn more about William’s Florist & Gift House (1425 Union Road, West Seneca) on their FACEBOOK PAGE or give them a call at 716-675-7800.

 

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About Me

 

 

Welcome to Totally Buffalo! A local lifestyle website.

My name is Mary Friona-Celani and I am the creator of this site! I’m a wife, a mom, a grandma, a Buffalo booster, an entrepreneur and a small business owner. I’m so glad you stopped by.  After 20 years in the buffalo media, I went out on my own to tell stories about the people, places, events and all-around fabulousness of this wonderful place we call home. Buffalo is different and so is this site. We are here to share stories, encourage kindness, and help make this a better place to live.

We’ll help those in need when we can through our charity arm, Totally Buffalo Cares.

We help local small businesses, artisans and vendors though our events and our Totally Buffalo Stores.

We’ll do all of this with a little help from friends in our community.

 

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