With proms and graduations approaching quickly on the calendar, now is the time when you begin to see a new demographic make its way into your shop. This new group of tweens and teenagers can leave many shop owners perplexed and wondering what’s the best way to make the sale. When it comes to this group, words and appearances matter. You need to make sure you present fresh new designs to capture the attention and trust of these young shoppers. After all, this group is loaded with discretionary income, which they are not afraid to spend on themselves. They live by trends, celebrate cool and wait’ til the last minute for everything, and fully expect to receive the desired results. Like any consumer, they feel ripped off when their flowers flop before the last dance. Teens are style-savvy and know what they want, but success requires more than just blending bling with blooms. To keep them coming back to celebrate future occasions with your shop, wristlets, anklets and boutonnieres have to hold up from the first photo to the last.
Handling techniques that work
When dealing with corsages, hair accessories and various types of floral body jewelry, one of the biggest issues is designing flowers that will not have a water source. A few tips will keep the flowers vibrant through the night. First, before any designing starts, make sure stems are fully hydrated in flower food for at least two hours. Don’t skimp on this step because once flowers are designed in corsages, hand-tied bouquets or boxed roses, there is no solution source to rejuvenate thirsty stems. Leave foliage intact while hydrating because that’s where the cells that pull solution up the stem are located. Use a high-sugar flower food – the same formula used to fill vases or soak foam so you can ensure blooms get a good carbo-boost. And keep in mind, just as liquid laundry detergents blend faster than powders, so it is with flower food — best results happen when the blend is immediate and homogenous.
Once the blooms are designed, there’s a final step to ensuring quality. That step is spritzing blooms with a sealing spray. Several sprays are available like Chrysal Glory or Floral Mist by Floralife and both are convenient, ready-to-use treatments. These finishing sprays slow down water loss in petal tissues much like hair spray sets a hairdo on a windy day. The sprays also dry clear and are acceptable for use on all kinds of flowers and foliages. Spray the flowers to drip point and then allow the design to dry completely before bagging or boxing and placing in the cooler. Keeping blooms dry prevents the possibility of Botrytis spots occurring – a definite buzzkill.
Want to pump up the volume? Consider another spray treatment for flowers such as Hawaiian Floral Mist (HFM). Unlike the sealers described, HFM does not coat petals but instead is absorbed. It causes enzymatic reactions inside cells that slow down respiration rate, also known as the water loss rate in plants and flowers. When using this type of spray, go light, as a fine mist is all that’s needed to react with cells and only spray every other day or two. HFM can be sprayed on any flower and foliage, even potted plants. As the name indicates, the product was developed in Hawaii to prevent anthuriums and humidity-loving blooms from drying up when displayed in the parched indoor environments of A/C or forced heat.
Changing gears
Another important floral issue that is present at this time of year is properly treating spring bulbs. If you are still treating bulb flowers (iris, tulips, lilies) in plain water, then you should consider giving bulb food a try this spring. These types of flowers require special attention because when flowers are harvested from bulbs, corms, rhizomes or tubers, the hormone balance goes wacky...’nuf said! Rebalancing this internal chemistry prevents yellow foliage and stagnated bud-opening. Here’s a situation where you can become more sustainable in your business while at the same time reducing shrink. Adding hormones through the use of bulb food can ramp up vase life considerably. Take the iris as an example: non-treated vase life is four days, while, with treatment, the bloom can last from seven to eight days. Bulb food will also solve any problems you have with freesia and glads stalling before the opening of the second floret.
Remember that in this economy, value is the game in 2009 and proper care and handling techniques are important to ensure you and your customers – young or old – get the most of your blooms. If the prom flowers droop on the doorstep or spring flowers wither a day after purchase, those customers won’t return to your shop. There’s a lot of consumer behaviour-shifting going on, which is why retailers must constantly develop and prove their differential advantages.
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