Add beauty to the big event with Thrifty Gents
One of Pueblo’s most popular custom floral shops was almost an online men’s clothing store.
In Fall 2018, Thrifty Gents founders Joey Andenucio and Casey Mastreno were contacted to plan for a friend’s niece’s upcoming wedding. Unable to find floral arrangements that fit exactly what they were looking for, Andenucio and Mastreno decided to design their own arrangements for both the wedding and bridal shower the following Spring.
“The rest is history from there,” Andenucio said. “We changed our whole business model and set up our wholesale accounts with flowers and that summer of 2019, we did a couple of baby showers and bridal showers. We did one more wedding that fall and then we lined up weddings for 2020.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, weddings were postponed and Thrifty Gents shifted their focus once again. Thrifty Gents, located at 1000 W 6th Street Suite A in the Midtown Shopping Center, became a “full-fledged flower shop” perfecting the design of elaborate and affordable arrangements for any occasion.
“When we were looking for a space even last August, we weren’t necessarily looking for a place where we could have a storefront,” Andenucio said. “It was going to be more where we could wedding plan; maybe host little classes.”
Colorful flower arrangements from Thrifty Gents may be designed for birthdays, celebrations, a ‘thinking of you’ gift, condolences, funeral services, and weddings. A selection of specially curated items are also available to be added to a floral arrangement or serve as a stand-alone gift.
Event planning with Thrifty Gents is also a very personalized process; a process that could include day-of coordination right before the big event or a year-long process carried all the way through cleanup.
“I would say it is more dependent on what people want to get out of their event planner, Andenucio said. “The very first time we meet with a client, we’ll do a consultation if they want event planning. We will be very frank. We’ll tell you if you don’t really need an event planner, you just need some guidance and maybe we can have a couple of meetings.”
Andenucio and Mastreno are both active members of the community. Andenucio, a Pueblo native, left Pueblo for about ten years before returning to his hometown. While living in New York City, he worked in retail and wholesale. Aside from being a founder of Thrifty Gents, he is a middle school drama teacher in Pueblo City School District 60.
Mastreno grew up in Rye where he developed an interest in studying different varieties of plants. A graduate from the nursing program at Pueblo Community College, he currently serves as an administrator for MGA homecare in Pueblo where he manages pediatric clinical services in the city.
“Casey and I really chose to put our roots down here. It was a conscious effort or a choice,” Andenucio said. “We really love Pueblo. We love that we are near our family. We love that we can do community outreach here… Pueblo is kind of one of those big cities with a small-town mentality and so I think that is a huge appeal to it.”