Company History
John Lapide & his brother-in-law Joseph Fumusa were living the American Dream. As Italian immigrants, they never believed that they would one day be business owners. But, in 1946 that’s what they became when they opened F & L Produce in Brooklyn, NY. F & L Produce was a seasonal produce business selling mainly watermelons and other types of fruit and vegetables. John’s son, Larry, worked along side his Father & Uncle as a teenager on weekends and during summer vacations. When he decided he wanted to go into the family business full time he was instrumental in growing the business and in the mid 1950s F & L Produce relocated into a larger store in the Brooklyn Terminal Market. With the increased square footage, they had the opportunity to broaden the range of products they carried and began selling plants and flowers for Easter & Mother’s Day and live trees and greenery during Christmas season.
Larry married a young Irish nurse, Patricia, in 1956 and their first child, a son, was born in 1957. They named him John after his grandfather and founding partner of the family business. By 1960 they’d had 2 more children, Patrick & Antonia and business was still booming.
Following in their father’s footsteps, both John & Patrick began helping out around the store at a young age. When they were old enough to begin working there full time, their Grandfather and Great Uncle retired and the business was reborn as Lawrence J Lapide and Sons. The business continued to grow as more and more storefront was acquired and John & Patrick helped convince their father to keep up with the technology of the time (which in the 1970s included the purchase of a forklift). Larry became known as “The Big L” and many long-time Brooklyn residents will remember the iconic delivery trucks from the 70s & 80s emblazoned with “Here Comes The Big L” and “There Goes The Big L” on the side and back. Lapide became a Brooklyn institution.
Over the years John & Patrick were joined at the store by their mother, “Mrs. L”, (or as she is often more affectionately referred to as “Mommy”) sister, Noni & her husband, Jim, and their wives, Alisa & Judy, respectively. When Larry passed away in 1997 John took over the watermelon aspect of the business and Patrick remained in Brooklyn running the plant business. With the growth of the watermelon business at the hands of John, new partnerships were formed and Melon 1 was born.
In 2004, the Lapide Family expanded once again by opening Dragonfly Farms , a Home & Garden Specialty Store, in beautiful Hamilton, NJ. Patrick & his wife, Judy, moved out of NY to run this new extension of the business and it has been a tremendous success, often referred to as “Hamilton’s Best Kept Secret”.
Now 65 years and 4 generations later, the business is still thriving in the same neighborhood where the original F & L Produce opened all those years ago. After a renovation in the winter of 2010, Lapide reopened the store in the spring of 2011 as Brooklyn Plantology. Many of the members of the extended family still have close involvement with the business including Mrs. L, now 81, all her children and their spouses and most recently John’s daughter, Patty, and her husband, Jeff. In December of 2010, Patty & Jeff welcomed the 5th generation to the business with the birth of their son, Nathaniel Lawrence.
Like our family, many of our customers have been shopping with us for generations. We invite you to come visit our beautiful garden center in the heart of Brooklyn and become part of our extended family!