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A Change Will Do You Good
Tips and tactics for a tough economy |
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Written by Amanda Ryder
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Now is the time to brainstorm new ideas and promotions to keep your sales blooming and your customers shopping.
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We’ve heard over and over that people just aren’t spending like they used to and are instead holding tight to their purses or wallets, shelling out only after careful consideration. For a retail florist this is bad news and we at Canadian Florist want to know what you’re doing about it. We talked with florists across the country to see if in fact the recession is affecting their business and what they are doing to survive and thrive in a rough environment. Here’s what your fellow florists had to say.
In Regina, Buds & Blossoms is feeling a boost in business, which co-owner January Kardash credits to the current boom taking place in Saskatchewan. She says she felt the beginnings of a slowdown at the end of 2008 but sales have been trending up since. “I found that at Christmas time, November, December, I noticed it more so than I have since then. I think a lot of it had to with American and Ontario orders slowing down. Regina itself is pretty strong and growing quite a bit as a city.”
Kardash and her sister Jada purchased the shop a year and a half ago and have been working hard to drive customers into the store. “We’ve just revamped it and I’m still growing. I don’ think I’m growing as quickly because of the economy but I’m still seeing an increase from being a new business.” In day-to-day operations, the sisters are trying to limit spending by manning the shop themselves whenever possible and are also looking into a variety of suppliers. “We’re really looking around at a lot of different suppliers before we order one thing in particular and we are trying to make sure we get the best value for what we order rather than just go with the supplier that had always supplied this store previously.”
Kardash has found that a few added expenses have paid off, especially during the recent Easter weekend. When last year’s Easter holiday attracted little business, Kardash decided to step up promotions this year. As a result of some inexpensive advertising such as e-mail marketing, the shop had a successful sales week. “I think that helped as well as being on top of our website. And I’m still advertising regularly. It’s tempting to cut down but I’m not going to because I know that it’s better to keep advertising to get through it and have people coming in rather than kind of slow down. That’s what I’ve been warned by a few different businesses.”
Lisa Armstrong of Dorine’s Flower Centre in Saint John, N.B., says the economy has had an effect on their shop and as a result, they’ve made a few changes. The shop recently moved in January to a new location, which has allowed them to switch up their hours of operation. “We moved out of a mall into a strip mall so we could be a little more flexible with our hours and we actually cut back. We started closing three hours earlier in the evenings. We kind of restructured, got rid of part-time people and cut back that way,” says Armstrong.
She says if their customers continue to cut back on their spending, the shop’s big focus will be on delivering great service in their most popular market – funerals. “Funerals are an absolute core here in Saint John,” Armstrong says. “That’s going to be our mainstay. When people stop buying flowers for no reason – just stopping on the way home just to pick up a bouquet – when they stop doing that because the economy is bad and they don’t think they can afford it, they are still going to be buying for certain occasions, funerals, of course, being the most regular ones.”
Armstrong says Dorine’s Flower Centre is keeping a close eye on costs and this has prevented them doing more promotions. “It’s kind of a catch 22. I think advertising, more advertising, at this point in time would probably be helpful to let people know about us and to encourage them to spend some more money here but of course with the economy being in the shape it is, we have to be careful with our money too.”
In Nova Scotia at Inglis Flower World in Halifax, Halim Saba owns the shop with his wife and the two make up the shop’s staff. “Business is down quite a bit. It’s just me and my wife working and we can’t send her home,” he says with a laugh. They are watching their spending and hoping Mother’s Day will signal a turnaround. “Easter wasn’t bad but Valentine’s Day wasn’t good at all,” Saba says. “Everybody is tied up to their money and they don’t want to spend the money.”
When asked if the economy is affecting her store, Vicki Hum, owner Elements Floral Design in Canmore, Alta., echoed a sentiment that many florists expressed: it’s too early to tell. “Everything changes from day to day so I don’t really know until the end of the year. As of now, sales have maintained themselves for this year. I might have had even a bit of an increase for the last two months,” says Hum.
The florist says just from talking to people in the community, she knows that people are still concerned and budgeting when it comes to buying. As a result, Hum is offering customers lower-priced floral options to encourage them to spend. “We have fewer big ticket items like large containers and things like that going out on the floor and we are aiming for a little bit of a lower price range or average price range so that it’s more enticing for the public.”
At Among the Flowers in Welland, Ont., owner Pat Shedden is another florist that is looking more closely at the products she’s purchasing. “I’m very careful of the way I buy now. I’m really doing some price comparisons for my fresh flowers.” Shedden has noticed that her sales are in decline from last year and has taken a few precautionary measures to protect employees. “I have cut one part timer and I’m looking at a wage program that’s being offered by the government that I’ve applied for…I hope I don’t have to use it but it’s a just-in-case measure where the government will kick in rather than laying anybody off on a permanent basis. If you have to reduce their hours, the program and the government will supplement that income.”
In addition to this, Shedden is also exploring ways to provide her customers with more service avenues. “I just finished a course in wedding planning so now I’m an international wedding planning professional,” she says. “We actually have a catering service in our store as well and I’ve registered myself in floral essence, which is floral therapy. And believe it or not we have a reflexologist in our store too.” The shop is located next to a yoga studio, so Shedden says these types of services will appeal to the people already walking by the shop. Among the Flowers customers can also enjoy a coffee as they browse the shop’s floral selection and have a seat at one of a few of the tables located in the store. “I look at definitely cutting costs in the store but I’m also looking at ways to diversify myself,” she says.
While a recession may mean florists have to tighten the reins and hold off on certain expenses, it can also be the perfect time to try something new, get rid of unnecessary spending or appeal to your best shoppers. Providing your shoppers with less service and higher prices won’t get flowers on their table so you need to be creative and change up the way you do business.
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