There are all sorts of rose puns to be made here, but instead let’s just say it’s a pleasure to see a newly activated storefront window — and doubly so when it is filled with roses.

Rose Box, which opened its doors on Franklin in October, was founded by two women — Dana Dadush and Inbal Hornik (Hornik lives here in Tribeca) — both with roots in Israel and the fashion industry who wanted to apply their taste and business sense to ecommerce. They were brainstorming ideas a few years ago when an Ecuadorian friend mentioned in passing that she had family with a rose farm — Ecuador is the rose capital of the world — and the idea of preserved roses took hold.

“We fell in love with the concept,” said Dana. “We are both obsessed with fashion, and there’s an obvious connection between flowers and fashion. And this was both flowers and home décor.”

The roses are preserved in alcohol and glycerin and can last up to three years, a feature that eliminated the usual shipping challenges for floral products. They launched the business online in 2018, and at first did all the arrangements themselves, styling the blooms in a modern, clean look that could be applied to different shapes and sizes. That was all going fine until Mother’s Day 2019, when they had an explosion in orders.

“Inbal went to Israel for Passover and I had to call her to come back — we never thought it would take off like it did,” Dana said. “After a few weeks it was like, oops! We have a business.”

During the pandemic they had to leave their workshare office in Midtown, and with so much retail space available, they decided to find something that could house their warehouse and production space, along with a storefront. So they packed up their storage facility in New Jersey and moved the whole operation to Franklin Street. “It’s a little dream to be all together,” said Dana. “It didn’t have to be a storefront, but we said, ‘Let’s make it happen.'”

They’ve expanded their collection to the Jewish market — making table arrangements for the High Holy Days, for example, and people also now come in with their own vases to be filled with roses. Business has been brisk during the pandemic as well, and of course Valentine’s Day is now around the corner.

“You can’t see your loved ones,” notes Dana, “so we like to say we are sending love in a box.”

Rose Box
186 Franklin | Greenwich and Hudson
www.roseboxnyc.com
646-374-1711