Hey Flower Guy- Holiday Season Is Over

I’m posting the article below by Wil Gonzalez, AIFD from the Ukiah Daily Journal in Northern California.  As the Valentine’s Day season, and the holiday season for that matter is behind us, a number of challenges this year await.  Wil has provided a great piece here from the perspective of the retail florist to the consumer.

And take a moment before or after reading this article and vote on our poll to the right.  We want to know how your Valentine’s Day Sales went.  Enjoy.

-----By Wil Gonzalez, AIFD

Well it looks like the holiday season is behind us. In the floral industry that means from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. As many people surmise, Valentine's is a huge. And it is only one day. My boss says it looks like it was a good day. He judges a good day when none of the employees are fighting, when we don't receive complaints and when all deliveries are made and little or no mistakes are made. I agree, a good day. I work with some amazing people, who worked hard to make sure all customers were well served. Since it is a small shop we all do many different tasks. Sales clerks will be trained to green in vases and gather flowers for designers. Designers will be sales clerks when there are 10 customers waiting to be served and all the phones are ringing.

It was at that time when I over heard one customer complain that "florists over charge on this day just because we can." Since I was with one customer, I was unable to respond and our poor clerk was left speechless. I feel bad for that customer because he left feeling used.

In the many years I have been in this business, I have found that people gravitate to floral work because they are creative/artistic people who like flowers and like people. Those who work in flower shops want to assist, help, guide our customers to make a purchase that fits the occasion and their current budget. In my travels I've learned that while the profit margin for flower shops is very low compared to other businesses, all shop owners stay in this industry because they do want to help customers get the best value for their floral purchase, in hopes that they will choose to buy flowers in the future.

In the articles I write I attempt to help that customer understand that this is a business that deals with a perishable product that has seasonal demands and weather related concerns. There is also the very basic business axiom of Supply and Demand. All of these things affect the price of the flower you want to buy today.

You have to know I feel so lucky that when I came to Ukiah 17 years ago, I chose the flower shop that would be the only flower shop left in Ukiah after all these years. I have to say that it has everything to do with great employers. They give me time off to do the MCAVHN annual Event of the Heart, in the middle of Valentine's as well as donate flowers for the event. They let me do far out, fashion forward designs for modern, young customers. They care about the business, customers, employees, and above all they care about the flowers they purchase and where they are sourced.

I'm proud to say that long before Buy Local' was a slogan, my boss always procured product from sources as local as possible. When big box or grocery stores started buying roses (and lilies) from South American growers, many California growers sold their farms. These are now sprawling suburbs. As for the imported product, I know what flowers go through to get to that big box store before it gets to you. First, it's pesticides and fertilizers no longer allowed or used in the USA. Next it's the travel and storage. From Columbia to Miami. That is usually the point of entry. Sitting in a warehouse waiting to be inspected by USDA before being shipped to the next warehouse. Waiting 1-3 days before being shipped to your big box store. This journey can take 3-6 days.

Chances are those flowers have been stored and shipped with produce. Produce that emits ethylene. Ethylene (C2H4) is a naturally occurring plant hormone. It does affect the growth, development, ripening, and senescence (aging) of all plants. Bananas, after being brought to the USA, are placed in huge lockers where high levels of ethylene is introduced in order that the bananas turn from green to yellow. Those bananas are probably in the same produce trailer as apples, potatoes, strawberries peaches as well as roses and carnations. Ever buy a peach that FELT ripe but was hard on the inside? How about strawberries that started to rot before you could finish the basket? Maybe long lasting carnations that dried up, shriveled up after 3 days? How about the rose that never opened or heads that just fall over. These are some of the effects of ethylene exposure. Unless my boss is eating an apple when driving, freshly harvested roses from the farms to the shop, our California grown roses are not exposed to outside sources of this ripening agent.

Maybe you saw my Facebook page with the photo of the boxes of Pro-Flower product being manhandled in some warehouse, somewhere in USA. Hey, where's the romance? Where is the love?

In the big picture, the National Retail Federation reported that consumers probably spent $1.8 billion on flowers for Valentine's Day. That is up from $1.7 billion in floral sales 2011 and $1.6 billion 2010. We notice that sales are higher when Valentine's Day is on a weekday and deliveries to a work place are in high demand. In this small town shop with all the extra help that needed to be hired, tight workspace and long hours to get every detail on every order just right, we got along just fine. It was a successful holiday. Now we take a breather and get ready for Mother's Day. Where ever Mom is I recommend, order early and order directly from the delivering florist.

Wil Gonzalez works for Rainforest Fantasy, is NW Regional past-president of the American Institute of Floral Designers, Ukiah Garden Club president and a trophy winning Rose parade Floral Designer.