By Zachary Bandler
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Kaitlin Radebaugh took over as the president and owner of Radebaugh Florists and Greenhouses in 2020, making her the first female leader of the family business in four generations.
“I was established as the first female owner, and I wanted to make my mark,” Radebaugh said.
Over the last summer, she has done just that. She led a major rebranding effort that featured a new logo with updated colors, a throwback newspaper featuring employee gardening tips, a renovated gift shop and The Geranium House private events space.
All this was done to “bridge the gap between holding on to tradition and modernizing.”
Despite the success her changes have brought, she tributes the business’s continued prosperity to the choices made by her great-grandfather, George W. Radebaugh.
Kaitlin talked about how despite not going to college, George’s insight was the factor that has allowed the business to experience such incredible growth over the years.
“He was a farmer and he stuck to those main principles; kind of like land is gold. And he slowly bought up all the land that we’re on today, and there’s no way we could operate without him doing that,” Kaitlin said.
George Radebaugh and his wife, Anna, established the business in 1924. The shop has not moved from its location at 120 E. Burke Ave. since its founding and has only grown since its inception, including a wholesale farm in Freeland, Maryland.
The current storefront, which Kaitlyn Radebaugh recently renovated, was originally a floral greenhouse where George and Anna lived on the second floor with their children.
Radebaugh spent her childhood playing hide-and-seek in the greenhouse and helping her father in the flower department with “all the kid jobs,” such as filling water tubes, tearing papers for cut flowers and cutting ribbons.
She also fondly remembers being told to stay home on the last day of school to help run deliveries.
“He [her father] would be like, ‘You don’t have classes, you don’t need to go to school. You can be a runner,’” Radebaugh said.
Radebaugh said her kids continuing the tradition of “all-hands in” gives her hope for the future.
“My kids come and help out [on]Valentine’s Day or stuff, and part of me will feel bad, and then they’re like, ‘Oh my God, it was so great.’-And they feel invested, too,” Radebaugh said.
Radebaugh hopes that despite the challenge of a growing generational gap, where each generation is having kids later in life, her current work will lay the groundwork for those who come after her.
“I hope that with these big renovations that we’ve done, I have given my part to the next generation,” Radebaugh said.
Radebaugh said she hopes the next family member who runs the shop will be someone that already helps out with the business.
“I guess my biggest hope is that one of my kids, one of my nieces or nephews, that someone you know wants to come back and take this over.”