Rose Business Blooming

Offering a rose to m’lady over drinks or dinner in a nice restaurant is certainly romantic, but unless arrangements were made beforehand, where would you get the rose?

Perhaps from Susan Atkins or one of the women she trains to carry baskets of roses around cocktail lounges and restaurants during dinner hour.

Men -- and women -- impulsively buy roses at $3.50 each to present to their partners.

“Business has been blooming,” said Ken Cenderelli, who began M’Lady Rose Co. at Lake Tahoe, before moving to Fresno.

Ms. Atkins and Dale Critzer are partners in the business with Cenderelli, who formerly owned a chain of 17 fast-food restaurants.

The company has contracts with about 60 restaurants and cocktail lounges in the area and may offer franchises.

“Without the restaurant and lounge owners, we would not have anything,” Cenderelli said.

Women who carry the roses around restaurants are not allowed to solicit sales.

“However, the women attired in evening dresses, carrying baskets of red, white, yellow and lavender roses, are highly visible to customers,” Cenderelli said.