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Valentine’s Day 2008: How florists fared from coast to coast
How florists fared from coast to coast |
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Written by Amber Dean
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| Florists across Canada spoke to us about their Valentine’s Day experiences. |
With Valentine’s Day come and gone, it’s time to reflect on how florists from across the country fared on the floral holiday. From unpredictable weather to those last-minute shoppers, florists know that anything that can happen, will happen, on Cupid’s day. Here’s a look at what the 2008 Valentine’s Day brought a number of Canadian florists.
In Calgary, Alta., Monica Petryk of Kensington Florist estimates that she did about 350 to 400 orders on Valentine’s Day. Petryk calls this year “a really good season. We were really busy. Christmas was slower than anticipated, so it was nice to get such a big kick.”
Carmela Walters, owner of Thoughtful Gifts and Flowers, in Toronto, Ont., says her 2008 sales were up from last year’s sales. The 2007 holiday suffered due to a huge snowstorm that hit Toronto and the surrounding area, which kept customers indoors and blocked delivery routes. In order to prepare for this year’s holiday, Walters did a cost analysis of the last three years and took into consideration that this year Valentine’s fell on the Thursday before Ontario’s first Family Day long weekend. “I didn’t have any flowers left so I was happy with the sales,” says Walters. Her customers opted for the traditional red rose, which was her best seller, a trend echoed by many of the florists we spoke to. Dave Pickrell, one of the owners of Westmount Florist in Montreal, Que., says his customers couldn’t get enough of the traditional variety. “Red roses. It seems everyone wants red roses and really it’s the worst time of the year for them,” he says.
Over in Winnipeg, Man., it seems some floral purchasers were willing to try something new. Customers at Labelle Florist strayed from the classic red rose bouquet, opting for more exotic colours and varieties. Owner Connie Van Reenen says their most popular sellers this year were tropical flowers and orchids. The florist says she has tried to stay away from red roses and has been bringing in fewer and fewer roses every year. Calgary florist Petryk also noticed the trend towards more tropical arrangements. “This year tropical flowers were quite popular. Guys were thinking outside the box and were not doing the traditional roses. Roses are tricky, especially at Valentine’s Day, so it is nice to see people doing something different.”
As far as walk-in sales versus phone and Internet orders went, many florists spoke of different experiences. Petryk says that Kensingston Florist had a sea of men at the front of the shop and she recorded slightly higher walk-in sales than usual. At Labelle Florist, Van Reenen noticed that walk-in traffic at her store was much lower this year. She credits this to the fact that it was a chilly -45 degrees C in Winnipeg this Feb. 14.
On the eastern side of the country, Kenny Parks, manager of Lancaster Florists in Saint John, N.B., recorded more phone-in orders than walk-ins or Internet sales. He also notes that his sales were “slightly better” than those of the previous year. Parks says the fact that Valentine’s Day fell on a Thursday may have helped to boost the number of orders that came through the shop. “Thursday is a very good day because guys like to send flowers to the office and it’s payday.”
In several areas across the country, as with last year, the Canadian winter did not take time out to enjoy the holiday. Montreal was one of the locations that saw a massive snowfall on Feb. 13. “Valentines Day sales were fabulous,” says Pickrell. “Our only problem was delivery. We had 20 centimetres of snow so it was murder for delivery . . . . It was almost impossible to get downtown.”
Rose Bozarth, owner of Flowers by 5th Avenue Cottage in Chetwynd, B.C., says the erratic weather left her with a very memorable Valentine’s Day. Two days before the flowers she ordered were to be brought in from Vancouver, an avalanche struck nearby, which left Bozarth’s flowers stranded in Prince George, B.C, a city over 450 kilometres away from Chetwynd. Bozarth attempted to find an airline to fly in her flowers but no one was willing to because of the fact the flowers might freeze. “For a while I didn’t think I was going to have any flowers,” Bozarth says. However, the florist was able to find a supplier in Edmonton who had enough to help stock her with flowers. “It was definitely a Valentine’s Day where things you were not expecting, happened,” laughs Bozarth. In the end her sales were comparable to last year and she ended up selling all the roses she had brought in.
Overall, the florists we spoke to say they had a good Valentine’s. For many, the holiday is a good reminder that there’s no such thing as a typical day at a florist shop. Winnipeg’s Van Reenen says “You can always anticipate what will happen but you must be prepared for the best and for the worst.” At her shop, things ran smoothly and this year, the florist even found the time to celebrate Feb. 14. “We actually got to leave at a decent time, which was nice because we got to enjoy a bit of a Valentine’s Day ourselves.”
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