Three Florists Bloomed Over the Years in Zebulon
By MaryBeth Carpenter
Dwain Driver, owner and operator of Lovallo Florist, has worked in the business of comforting, uplifting, and supporting people through celebrating life occasions through his floral creations for over 50 years.
At the age of 15, Dwain began working at Middlesex Flower and Art Shop under owner Doris Deans. A year later, at age 16, he opened his own florist in Middlesex in his grandfather’s General Store on Taylors Mill road with the help of his parents Josephine and Glenn Driver.
After his high school graduation, Dwain moved his florist to Zebulon in the Pink Medlin building on the SE corner of Arendell Avenue and East Horton Street. After a while, he closed shop and went to work at Mordecai Florist in Oakwood in Raleigh to obtain more technical training.
In 1980, Dwain left Mordecai Florist to open Lovallo Florist in Wedgewood shopping Center on 530 West Gannon Avenue. Then in 1996, he purchased property from Baird T. and Ava Pearce and built a stand-alone building at 200 East Gannon Avenue. He opened in that location in Spring of 2000, and 20 years later Lovallo’s Florist Interiors and Antiques is still in operation and pleasing local residents.
Lovallo Florist is on the site where Pearce’s Nursery was formerly located. Pearce’s Nursery began in 1972 and was run by Baird and Ava Pearce and their son Tommy Pearce. They purchased the corner lot for Pearce’s Nursery in 1976 or 1978 from Avon Privette. Before 1972, the old metal building standing on that site was an auto repair shop. The house at 306 Popular Street adjacent to Lovallo Florist was built around 1910 and is still owned by Dwain Driver.
Two other florists thrived in Zebulon before Lovallo’s opened.
Center Flower Shop was opened in 1963 on the corner of Arendell Avenue and West Horton Street, at the site where the Horace Mann insurance building is located today. It was owned and operated by Max Paul Williams.
Wakefield Florist – Opened in 1964 in Wakefield on 96 Hwy, which was known at that time as Rt 3, Zebulon. It sat where the Zebulon Animal Hospital is located now. Mary Lee Brantley was the owner of the business. She moved the florist to 120 North Arendell Avenue in 1979. Mary Lee owned the business until her death in 1993. Then her daughter, Lynne Timberlake, took over the business. She closed the business in 2007.
This article appeared in the July 2020 edition of the Preservation Zebulon Newsletter and was written by MaryBeth Carpenter with contributions by Marvin Howell.
