ROCKLAND — Hoboken Gardens, which for many years occupied its corner at 310 Commercial Street in Rockport, officially cut the ribbon at a new location at 15 Tillson Ave, in Rockland  Wednesday, October 26, under a new name: Flowers by Hoboken. On Saturday, October 29, Flowers by Hoboken will hold a grand opening and open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are inviting guests to view the new location.

Lisa Farley, owner of Flowers by Hoboken, said Rockland offered many opportunities for store keepers, with an active downtown, a variety of events, and a monthly art walk.

Farley said Flowers by Hoboken will offer many similar services to the Rockport operation, and will have new features, as well.

"We're going to do flowers of course," she said. "We're going to do every day flowers and we do a lot of wedding work. We still have gifts and pool supplies. We carry gifts from Maine and we are trying to bring in gifts made locally and from around the state that are high quality. Something new will be the flower design classes. People can sign up and have a fun event night. "

Hoboken began as a business in 1989. Former parent company Farley and Sons will still offer all the services that they had in the past.

Farley said their tradition of Mother's Day flowers will continue.

"We deliver all the holidays," she said. "Mothers Day is traditionally our busiest weekend of the year. The former Rockport Police Chief and the Camden Fire Chief Chris Farley deliver the flowers for us. People like seeing them. It's fun for the customer and fun for us."

Farley said there is plenty of parking for the new store.

"We are  next door to the Wine Seller, so it's a good location," she said. "We have our own parking lot and we are right across from the public restrooms. We hope our customers will venture this way and see us and hope we'll gain new customers from being here."

Gordon Page, director of Rockland Main Street, Inc., said the group was thrilled to have Flowers by Hoboken in downtown Rockland.

"It's a business that I think will blossom," he said. "It's a very vibrant downtown; we have a good mix of businesses here. Clearly a business like Flowers by Hoboken is going to draw people, they had their decades-long business on Route 1 in Rockport. They looked at a variety of locations up and down the coast and they chose Rockland."

Page said it's a good business mix downtown, but they want more diversity.

"We want more diversity downtown just like we want more diversity on our population," he said. "Rockland is just one of those places where people come and grow. If people would come down and stroll downtown Rockland and its side streets I think that they would be pleasantly surprised at what they'd find."

Tom Peco, executive director of the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce said: "Hoboken has been a familiar name in this area for a long time. They have found a way to remain thriving here in the Camden, Rockport, and Rockland region. It's a beautiful new space here and we are thrilled to see the business continue on with the same family and continue to service the same families throughout the region."