This Dallas family business went from building floral displays at big events to fixing up homes – The Dallas Morning News

Nick and Taylor Thurmond found a post-it note on their mailbox last April with an offer to buy their Lower Greenville home in Dallas. That little piece of paper served to keep a family business afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

It planted a seed for how a business with a rich Dallas legacy could outrun a health crisis thats gobbled up many other companies.

The family business, now called Nitsche, is known as an event construction company with a rich Dallas legacy. Founded by German immigrant Ernst Nitsche, it began as a flower store around 1887, according to family members. The family initially sold flowers grown on their Dallas farm under the name Nitsches Flower Store, the first flower shop to be counted in the Dallas census, according to family.

The company shifted direction in the 1970s when Virgil Thurmond, Nicks father, changed it from a retail flower shop to an events and trade show business, renaming it Nitsche Convention Florist. Since then, the familys main work came from building sets and outdoor designs for events like the State Fair of Texas and traveling across the country for other similar large-scale events.

When COVID-19 sent the events business into hibernation, the Thurmonds had to figure out other ways to make money.

It was 100 to zero income in February, said Nick Thurmond, part of the fifth generation of family members to be involved in the business. He co-owns it with his father. Taylor, Nicks wife, also works for the family business.

Fortunately, the family had a background in construction. And they had a lead: the post-it note.

Nick and Taylor had been renovating their own homes for a number of years, making small-scale improvements. While living in their first Dallas home a duplex they owned while renting out the other half they decided to buy the home next door when it went on the market.

Three or four months after the renovation, they found that note on their mailbox. The Thurmonds realized they could channel the companys existing construction know-how into homebuilding.

In June, they bought a two-unit duplex on Vickery Boulevard in Lower Greenville under the companys name. The Thurmonds had the skills necessary to completely reimagine the 1950s build so they set out to convert it into a single-family home with four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

The Thurmonds say they hate the term flipping houses because it evokes the idea of slapping on new countertops, adding paint and calling it a day. Instead, when they renovate, they gut an entire house, reassessing everything from the plumbing to the layout to the exterior appearance.

They worked with Amy Sack from Compass Real Estate to find and acquire the properties. On Dec. 30, they closed a sale of the Vickery Boulevard house with Sacks help. Nick and Taylor said it was their first sizable paycheck since February.

When your side hustle becomes your main hustle overnight is how Taylor explains the choice they faced.

Nitsche has since acquired a second property where the Thurmonds will be building from the ground up. Nick and Taylor own a few properties of their own, separate from the family business, and are building their own custom home as well.

As for the future of the company, the couple said theyre uncertain how this year will play out. And theyre okay with that.

The company has already survived one pandemic the infamous 1918 Spanish flu that infected 500 million people. In a 1970 article in The Dallas Morning News, Nicks grandfather Robert Thurmond was quoted as saying the family flower store peaked during that pandemic.

Nick expects homebuilding to become a permanent part of the 134-year-old family business.

It was kind of a natural and welcome shift that will continue regardless of what happens, he said.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly cited Richard Thurmond in a 1970 article, the correct name is Robert Thurmond. The article now reflects the change.

Originally posted here:
This Dallas family business went from building floral displays at big events to fixing up homes - The Dallas Morning News