Flower Shop

A Glendale florist was arrested at his hillside home Thursday for allegedly using bank account information stolen from his customers to buy $1,900 in gift cards at Target stores in Glendale and Burbank. Vahik Ghookasian, owner of Daisy's Florist on the 1400 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard, allegedly bought the cards - which can be spent anywhere like pre-loaded debit cards - and then “purchased” items from his own store to pocket the money, police said. Glendale police detectives and Secret Service agents - experts in financial crime investigations - served search warrants just after 7 a.m. Thursday at Ghookasian's home on the 1600 block of Ridgeview Drive.

A Glendale florist and his wife pleaded not guilty Monday to multiple charges for allegedly stealing bank information from their customers to buy Visa gift cards at Target stores that they later redeemed at their own store, officials said. Vahik Ghookasian and his wife, Hilda, both 60, face 14 felony counts of identity theft for allegedly buying $1,900 in Visa gift cards at Target stores in Glendale and Burbank with account information from two Glendale residents who patronized Daisy Florist, on the 1400 block of Glenoaks Boulevard, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint.

A black Lincoln Navigator hurtled into a flower shop in the 200 block of North Verdugo Road early Wednesday evening. The owner of the shop was toward the back of the store when the sport-utility vehicle crashed diagonally into GG Flowers. The male driver of the SUV was not injured, said Sgt. Rodney Brooks of the Glendale Police Department. Whether he would be arrested or cited is pending the traffic bureau's investigation, he said. A photography shop and hair salon adjoining the flower shop also suffered structural damage.

As shoppers were asked to support small businesses nationwide Saturday, local small-business owners said it takes a lot to be successful in a tough economy, including providing a unique shopping experience, selling products that can't be found anywhere else and looking for untapped revenue streams. Montrose Shopping Park draws shoppers with its small-town character and special events for the holidays, said Alyce Russell, president of the shopping park's merchants association and owner of Andersen's Pet Shop.

Marianne Atkinson waited for 23 years for a gas station to go up for sale. When one finally did, on West Kenneth Road, she jumped at the chance to turn it into a flower shop. After scrubbing away the oil stains, she left most of the original 1920s fixtures in place, including the tire racks and signage, and simply covered up the car-lift in the former garage with a decorative water feature. That was in April. Now, nearly six weeks later, the drive-through at Ivy's Flower Station is well-used by customers who pull up and get their order of unusual and colorful flower arrangements to-go, Atkinson said.

Fire officials estimate damages from the blaze are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- A major fire at a strip mall early Thursday morning gutted at least one business, closed several others and caused an estimated $750,000 in damages, fire officials said. The fire at the shopping center at 459 W. Broadway Ave. near Pacific Avenue started at about 1 a.m. Thursday, Glendale Fire Capt. Carlos Guerrero said, after officials received a call from someone at the Chevron gas station across the street.

Darleene Barrientos In a tape played to the jury in the Glendale Police sexual-harassment trial, one of the plaintiffs in the case admitted lying about her whereabouts to dispatch and to socializing with fellow officers when she was supposed to be working. "Having this much time to look back, I think I was an idiot," said Renae Kerner, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, in the 2001 taped interview with Lt. Jonathon Perkins. The interview was part of the Police Department's investigation into reports of officers sleeping while on duty.

Gary Moskowitz Mary Tracy's second-grade classroom at Balboa Elementary School was a bit unkempt Tuesday, but starting your own community can get messy sometimes. Tracy's students are learning about teamwork, planning and cleanup this week as they define what a community needs. Students used cardboard, construction paper, glue, magic markers, crayons, scissors and colored pencils to create a miniature model of what their community would look like.

Two corrections and a suggestion I’m writing this letter representing myself and some co-workers in response to a letter submitted by Carole Weling regarding traffic problems in Glendale (“Genuine traffic measures needed,” Mailbag, July 27). Weling made two glaringly erroneous statements in her letter. One was asking why there are six to eight police cars in the parking lot behind the flower shop on North Brand Boulevard. We work in the beauty shop behind that flower shop, and we’ve never seen six to eight police cars there.

As shoppers were asked to support small businesses nationwide Saturday, local small-business owners said it takes a lot to be successful in a tough economy, including providing a unique shopping experience, selling products that can't be found anywhere else and looking for untapped revenue streams. Montrose Shopping Park draws shoppers with its small-town character and special events for the holidays, said Alyce Russell, president of the shopping park's merchants association and owner of Andersen's Pet Shop.

A Glendale florist and his wife pleaded not guilty Monday to multiple charges for allegedly stealing bank information from their customers to buy Visa gift cards at Target stores that they later redeemed at their own store, officials said. Vahik Ghookasian and his wife, Hilda, both 60, face 14 felony counts of identity theft for allegedly buying $1,900 in Visa gift cards at Target stores in Glendale and Burbank with account information from two Glendale residents who patronized Daisy Florist, on the 1400 block of Glenoaks Boulevard, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint.

A Glendale florist was arrested at his hillside home Thursday for allegedly using bank account information stolen from his customers to buy $1,900 in gift cards at Target stores in Glendale and Burbank. Vahik Ghookasian, owner of Daisy's Florist on the 1400 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard, allegedly bought the cards - which can be spent anywhere like pre-loaded debit cards - and then “purchased” items from his own store to pocket the money, police said. Glendale police detectives and Secret Service agents - experts in financial crime investigations - served search warrants just after 7 a.m. Thursday at Ghookasian's home on the 1600 block of Ridgeview Drive.

DOWNTOWN — Flower shops saw a steep drop in business for Valentine’s Day, which is typically the biggest sales day of the year for the sellers. The decline in activity at the start of 2010 was a letdown for store managers, who hoped for a rebound from a dismal sales year in 2009, which was the worst in memory, they said. Unfortunately, business did not improve on the holiday, dropping by at least 30% at most stores from a year ago, managers said. “It’s worse than last year,” said Jason Lee, a manager at Conroy’s Flowers on Glendale Avenue.

MONTROSE — Indian Springs Shopping Center, which houses a Vons grocery store, kicked off a transformation effort this week, just as Trader Joe’s begins negotiations for a nearby location. Plans for the Vons and shopping center renovations have been in the works for years and were not connected to interest in the area from Trader Joe’s, said Brad Howard, real estate manager for Green Howard, which manages the center. But Montrose residents have long complained of a lack of good grocery alternatives in the area, which prompted a city campaign to court Trader Joe’s in the first place, city officials have said.

Abraham Iwazian’s goal is very simple. “I just want to make people happy,” said the 56-year-old businessman and owner of the soon-to-open Yoga 4U on Brand Boulevard. “There are a lot of misconceptions about yoga, and I want to clear them up.” In fashioning his new Yoga studio as the everyman’s workout, Iwazian said he hopes to lure customers with greater alacrity than the previous tenants of 333 1/2 N. Brand Blvd., which have included a clothing, chocolate and flower shop.

Two corrections and a suggestion I’m writing this letter representing myself and some co-workers in response to a letter submitted by Carole Weling regarding traffic problems in Glendale (“Genuine traffic measures needed,” Mailbag, July 27). Weling made two glaringly erroneous statements in her letter. One was asking why there are six to eight police cars in the parking lot behind the flower shop on North Brand Boulevard. We work in the beauty shop behind that flower shop, and we’ve never seen six to eight police cars there.

Marianne Atkinson waited for 23 years for a gas station to go up for sale. When one finally did, on West Kenneth Road, she jumped at the chance to turn it into a flower shop. After scrubbing away the oil stains, she left most of the original 1920s fixtures in place, including the tire racks and signage, and simply covered up the car-lift in the former garage with a decorative water feature. That was in April. Now, nearly six weeks later, the drive-through at Ivy's Flower Station is well-used by customers who pull up and get their order of unusual and colorful flower arrangements to-go, Atkinson said.