Everything's coming up roses in advance of Valentine's Day at the new Scarsdale Village Flower Shop, which opened Tuesday at 7 Harwood Court.

Photo Credit: Nancy Chapman

Roses are trimmed and trapped at the Scarsdale Village Flower Shop on Saturday as residents get ready for the romance of Valentine's Day.

Photo Credit: Nancy Chapman

German Chino, owner of the new Scarsdale Village Flower Shop, said Saturday he is still getting used to his surroundings after several years as manager of the Scarsdale Flower Shop on East Parkway, which closed after its owner's death last month.

Photo Credit: Nancy Chapman

Felicity Huang gets a good look Saturday at the array of chocolate offerings on display at Imagine Candy on Harwood Court in Scarsdale.

Photo Credit: Nancy Chapman

Imagine Candy owners Donna Halperin and Bill Vogel said Saturday that, in addition to traditional heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, Scarsdale's Valentine's Day gift buyers are creating custom baskets and choosing novelty items.

Photo Credit: Nancy Chapman

Chocolate shoes are among the novelty items attracting attention from Valentine's Day gift buyers at Imagine Candy in Scarsdale, according to co-owner Bill Vogel.

Photo Credit: Nancy Chapman

Chocolate champagne bottles and chocolate watches are among the novelty items offered at Imagine Candy on Harwood Court in Scarsdale.

Photo Credit: Mark Chapman

A trio of offerings from Cocopotamus in New Mexico take a new approach to fudge, according to co-owner Billl Vogel of Imagine Candy in Scarsdale.

Photo Credit: Nancy Chapman

SCARSDALE, N.Y. – German Chino didn't exactly plan things this way, but the Scarsdale flower fixture got his new shop open just in time to handle the Valentine's Day rush.

Chino, the longtime manager of the Scarsdale Flower Shop on East Parkway, hurried to open his own shop after last month's death of Alan Eckstein, owner of Scarsdale Flower Shop, a familiar sight in the village for 86 years. The new store opened Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7 Harwood Court.  Saturday afternoon, the new store was servicing a steady stream of customers.

"Still getting used to the new place," Chino said. "People are still coming by, thankfully."

As he spoke, assistants – he brought the whole crew over from the old place – took orders and wrapped roses for Tuesday's big day. "A lot of roses, also, tulips and orchids," Chino said when asked what people were buying.

Chino's website is not yet active, but he retained the phone number from the East Parkway location: (914) 723-0852.

Just around the corner, Imagine Candy owners Donna Halperin and Bill Vogel were doing all they could to satisfy any number of sweet teeth. Vogel said business has been brisk going into Valentine's Day, and he had just made a trip to his chocolatier in Brooklyn earlier in the day.

"Aside from the tradition heart boxes, people are making up their own baskets," Vogel said. Also getting a lot of attention is the shop's line of novelty chocolates, including an array of bedazzled high-heeled chocolate shoes and boxes of Cocopotamus fudge from New Mexico, the same candy that was included in celebrity swag baskets for the 2011 Academy Awards and 2012 Golden Globes, according to the company’s website.

"For some reason, the really innovative and creative chocolates are coming out of the West Coast," Vogel said, citing Fran's Chocolates in Seattle and Posh Chocolat in Montana among his suppliers. Posh won the Chocolate Salon 2010 Master Chocolatier Grand Award for Best Chocolatiers/Confectioners in America based on the cumulative gold and silver awards earned during the 2009 Chocolate Salons in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.