Rose Serrano opened Rose Marie’s Floral & Gift Shop in 1945 at 2659 Independence Avenue, located in an Art Deco style building that was built by an Italian immigrant family to serve as a specialty store, importing goods from Italy.

Today, the building houses the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Economic Growth Gallery (EGG) and the Northeast News. A number of local women in business in Historic Northeast have jump started their businesses at the EGG space. If there’s any doubt the facility is dedicated to the success of area women-owned business enterprises, the mural on the EGG’s west wall is testament to the success of three strong Northeast area businesswomen. Painted in 2018, Zac Laman’s “Three Strong Women” mural profiles three area business women for his inaugural Historic Northeast mural: Rhama Suleiman, owner of All Nations Fashion Store, Elvira Anzmendo, owner of Elvira’s Cakes at 3838 Independence Avenue, and Hoa Thuan “Rose” Pham, owner of Romance Photography Studio located at 4231 Independence Avenue.

Located on the east wall of the EGG, Laman painted another mural in 2020 titled “Three Roosters,” which can be seen clearly traveling westbound on Independence Avenue. Laman said the roosters, to him, are a symbol of the various people and cultures in the Northeast. 

“Roosters mean different things to different cultures,” Laman said. “For example, roosters in Mexican culture mean good luck and it’s also another bird that’s found all over the world, which is like the Northeast — people are from all over the world.”