A Gloucester institution has new owners. Jean Smith, owner of Smith’s Florist and Gift Shop on Main Street for over five decades, announced recently that she has sold the business to a Florida couple.

Smith, of Schley, opened the business with her late husband, Kenneth, on May 1, 1964. “I’ve always been crazy about flowers,” she said. “I even started growing flowers at home when I was 12 years old.” By age 14, she was selling plants she had grown from seed.

Mr. Smith had an accounting business on the side and helped her learn all the ropes in tending to the accounting end of the floral business. “I couldn’t have done it without him,” she said. “Don’t ever go into business without knowing about bookkeeping.”

Smith, 86, said her real passion was putting her colorful arrangements together for her customers. 

About the time her husband passed away in 2010, Smith stopped coming into the shop regularly, ...