Skopje's "Roza" Flower Shops After Years of Decay: The City Promises a Rebuild and Fair Prices for Bouquets

Skopje Mayor Orce Gjorgjievski has announced that after years of neglect, the flower shops run by the public utility "Parks and Greenery" will work again - "Roza" on Ilinden Boulevard, opposite the "Lotus" fountain, and the flower shop by the Ministry of Economy. According to him, work on a thorough reconstruction is already under way.

"Skopje remembers the places where beautiful moments began. The city flower shops were part of those memories. That is where newlyweds picked the bouquets for the most important day of their lives, where people bought flowers for congratulations, for gratitude and for joy in someone's home," Gjorgjievski wrote. The flowers and services, he says, will be offered at the most accessible and fair prices possible.

The photos of "Roza" show what "years of neglect" means in practice: a building covered in graffiti. A city-owned public company sat for years on property on a busy boulevard that simply rotted. Good that someone finally remembered. Even better would be knowing how much the reconstruction will cost and when the flower shops will open their doors again.

Nostalgia makes a nice hook. How many other city properties are still waiting for someone to remember them? And is the "Roza" revival the start of a wider audit of city property that is falling apart, or just another nice story for social media?