Despite firebombing, Loop florist gets flowers to church on time

Who would firebomb a florist?

Gary Gudino hasn't a clue -- and he doesn't really have much timeto ponder it.

He has a business to run, and it hasn't missed a beat -- or awedding -- despite a Molotov cocktail crashing through the frontwindow of the Loop shop and burning it down over the weekend.

A cabbie saw two men in dark clothing throw two bottles, includinga flaming one, into Randolph Floral, 70 E. Lake St., just after 3a.m. Saturday, police said.

When workers started arriving at 6 a.m., the shop and all theflowers inside, which were being held for a wedding that day, weredestroyed.

Gudino, who owns the business his uncle Peter Tsurekidis opened in1943, didn't throw up his hands. With the help of his employees andthose at his wholesaler, Randolph Floral re-created nearly 18 hoursof work in just a few hours.

"It was amazing," said Fernando Lozano, manager at Roy Houff Co.,the wholesaler that let Gudino use its cooler, warehouse andemployees to get the job done in time for the nuptials.

"In the morning at 6, they were all teary-eyed and crying," Lozanosaid. "Nobody was even thinking about the wedding at all. All of thesudden, Gary starts sending people all over. And in three hours, theyhad a wedding put together."

The bride was "just absolutely wonderful and accommodating," saidGudino, who reports she was "thrilled" with the end result.

Gudino couldn't even stop to take a break to assess the hundredsof thousands of dollars in damage to the shop. With Passover thisweek and Easter this weekend, he has orders to fill.

"It came at a horrible week," said Gudino, who has alreadyreopened in a second-floor suite in the Lake Street building, thanksto his management company.

No one has been arrested in the arson, and police said they don'thave a motive. Gudino said he can't imagine who would do it.

"Whoever did this is emotionally deranged and just absolutelygutless," he said. "People don't settle grudges like this anymore.This is something that happened in the '20s and '30s, not in acivilized society."