Orlando Kross is the current owner of Flowers By Zenda located on Broadway and West 225th Street in Marble Hill. Mr. Kross was born in Aruba and then moved to the Netherlands as a child. After high school he started college and trained to become an electrician. In 1990 at the age of 19, he came to the U.S. and spoke English, Dutch and some high school Spanish. He started doing electrical work in the seasonal construction business. About two years later while it was off season, he started working part time at Flowers By Zenda which was owned by his uncle “Omar” at the time. His first job was driving a truck but he was eager to learn the business and soon became a part-time designer and envisioned his flower arrangements as artwork. In 2007 he bought the business from Omar, the second owner, and decided to keep the original name of the shop that was opened in 1946 by Bill Zenda. Over the years he started to speak Spanish fluently which became an asset to his business. Mr. Kross has been very dedicated to the Marble Hill community and regularly donates to local churches and events. He has also always been an active member of the Marble Hill Merchants Association and has now emerged as its leader.