Rich Mar Florist is celebrating its 70th year, with four generations of the family involved. It started in the basement of a townhouse. Today it does events across the country and works with major universities, athletic teams, athletes, and large-scale events.
Jonathan Morrissey, the company’s president, has been involved full time since graduating college in 2003, with his wife and his father beside him. If there is a fifth generation, he says, it will be father and daughter for the first time, and his daughter is starting to show interest. He sat down with Carter McKinney at Rich Mar to talk about legacy, high-pressure events, and what it takes to keep growing.
Starting at the bottom
Morrissey was about 13 when he was summoned to work. The first jobs were not glamorous. He swept floors, and occasionally got in trouble for chopping up too much floral foam.
What he learned most came from watching his father, whom he calls his hero. His father is simple to follow, Morrissey says, because he shows up and does what has to be done every single day. That example shaped the advice he gives any young person, college student, or college athlete starting out.
“Learn how to start from the bottom so that you can work your way up to the top so you appreciate the ride when you get there.”
Weddings and the people behind the brand
Rich Mar’s wedding work has appeared in Lehigh Valley Style and other magazines, and friends of Morrissey were featured in Vogue for their New Year’s Eve wedding. Brides meet with him, an owner who is invested in their day. Flowers show up in nearly every wedding photo, he notes, and he wants couples to come back for anniversaries and every occasion after.
His formula for first-generation founders is hard work and showing up. He points to the founder of Jersey Mike’s, who credits outworking the competition. Rich Mar did not invent flowers, and everyone buys from the same parts of the world, so the difference is the people and the connections. It took him more than 20 years to get here, and his advice is to keep pushing, do your best every day, and bet on yourself.
“They buy your brand, they buy your family.”
The U.S. Women’s Open changed everything
The turning point came with the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open at Saucon Valley. A friend got Rich Mar in front of the organizers, and Morrissey, then answering phones and just starting to build client relationships, made his first face-to-face pitch to a major client. There was no social media to scroll through, so a photographer friend shot the company’s work for a printed portfolio. Mimi Griffin, whose company was running the event, told him afterward he had blown her away, and asked him not to let her down. He did not, and they stayed friends for years.
The work itself was everywhere: sponsorship areas, upgraded seating and tents, flowers around the trophy every day, and even the locker room, where the men’s locker room was converted for the women and Rich Mar placed flowers over the covered urinals. The team was on site daily and refreshed arrangements at night. Morrissey, his father, and his cousin were on the green when the South Korean champion won, and they brought her the winner’s flowers.
That event, Morrissey says, showed the Lehigh Valley what Rich Mar could do, and showed him the possibilities were endless.
What high-level execution looks like
Big events start with months of planning: budgets, colors, sizing, and overall design. Then everything has to be made by hand. If you sell 700 arrangements, Morrissey says, you have to stand there and make them. His team travels wherever the work is, from California to Nashville, Dover, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina.
Install day brings its own constraints. Suites can be spread across different levels, with hospitality on the far side of a venue. On a golf course you cannot drive on the green or the fairway. At a racetrack that is live, you may have to go all the way around a three-mile track to reach the other side. After setup comes maintenance and attention to detail, though Morrissey says very few items ever need replacing.
Why do sports venues want flowers at all? Because guests in suites and boxes are paying for an upgraded experience, and flowers are part of it. The work has brought lasting moments too: helmets and suits from the Indy 500, jerseys from top college programs like Duke and Texas A&M, and a jersey from local standout Andre Williams. He has stood on stage to welcome Nelly, Ludacris, and Poison’s Bret Michaels to the Lehigh Valley, and he makes a point of pausing in those moments.
“Take that couple seconds to really take that appreciation, thank God, and just breathe for a minute and take in that success.”
What’s next
After spending the last three years at the Breeders’ Cup in California, he wants to work with more universities and dreams of doing flowers for the Indy 500, a bowl game, or the Daytona 500. He is also in early conversations about an IndyCar race in Washington, D.C. tied to America’s 250th. Through it all, he wants to keep serving the Lehigh Valley from Rich Mar’s two retail locations, including customers he has known since high school. His closing message borrows Greg Norman’s phrase, attack life, and comes with a warning that making it is only half the work.
“I think sometimes it’s harder to sustain success than it is to get there.”
- Start with the unglamorous work so you understand and appreciate every level of the business.
- Prepare for the big pitch like it matters: a real portfolio and a clear presentation won Rich Mar the U.S. Women’s Open.
- High-end events are won in the details: planning, install logistics, and nightly maintenance.
- When everyone sells the same product, people buy you, your brand, and your relationships.
- Sustaining success takes ongoing sacrifice, so keep betting on yourself after you arrive.
