Local florists gear up for Valentine’s Day — their busiest day of the year
Area florists are gearing up for Valentine’s Day Monday, with their busiest day of the year just around the corner.
Boxes upon boxes of sweet-smelling flowers were being delivered to local florists AlliKat Floral & Gifts, Gearhart’s Floral & Gifts and Streiff’s Floral & Gifts this week. For some of the shops, additional staff and helping hands have been secured to serve the additional customers who will be coming to the florists this week and make deliveries over the weekend and on Monday.
Local shops report that Valentine’s Day will see eight to 10 times as many flowers leaving the shop as a typical day in the winter. That volume in one day makes it the busiest day of the year for the retailers.
Florists agreed that ordering the correct number and types of flowers can be a little nerve wracking but is an important part of making it through the holiday successfully. Having customers order ahead will help guarantee selection and assist the florists in planning the arrangements.
Streiff’s Floral & Gifts uses the previous years’ totals to estimate the number of flowers they will need to order for the upcoming holiday.
On a typical day, Streiff’s will process about 50 orders. On Valentine’s Day, that order is almost eight times as much at 400 orders, Jerry Streiff said.
Melanie Gearhart said her shop, Gearhart’s Floral & Gifts, will prepare about 10 times the number of flowers for Valentine’s Day compared to the weeks leading up to and after the holiday.
Valentine’s Day celebrants in America are expected to spend about $1.7 billion this year on flowers, according to a National Retail Federation survey. Money spent on flowers is expected to eclipse what will be spent on candy and greeting cards. The average buyer will spend $36.78 on flowers this year, more than a $2 increase from last year.
More than one-third of Valentine’s gift-givers will select flowers, according to the NRF survey. Average per-person spending on Valentine’s Day overall is expected to rise to near-2008 levels after a two-year dip for the love-inspired day; with the survey adding that total holiday spending in 2011 is expected to reach $15.7 billion.
Preparing for V-Day
“We prepare ahead a lot for the week,” explained Gearhart. “Everything possible that we can do early, we try to do early.”
“You can’t believe Valentine’s Day at a flower shop until you’ve lived it,” she said. “From early in the morning until late at night, the volume of flowers that go out is unbelievable.”
But even the extra work doesn’t quell her love for what she does and for Valentine’s Day. This will be the second year Gearhart’s will be open for Valentine’s Day after changing hands from Richmond’s Floral. However, she has been working with flowers for many years and is no stranger to the Valentine’s Day rush.
“It’s very exciting; I love it,” Gearhart said. “Even though I work it, I just love Valentine’s Day.”
Gearhart’s has added two or three extra delivery people, two or three extra counter people, an extra person manning the phones, and a few extra floral arrangers. “We have a full staff and we’ll be ready,” she said.
Streiff said they will be working every day this week leading up to Valentine’s to prepare for Monday’s rush of walk-ins and deliveries. This will be her 26th Valentine’s Day working in the floral industry.
Streiff said they will start with vased flowers Thursday, work on arrangements Friday and Saturday and arrange roses Sunday. They’ll have four or five delivery people scheduled Monday to bring flowers around town and extra people to work the counters and phones.
Flower care
Care has to be taken to make sure the flowers are maintained at a reasonable temperature. Too hot or too cold and the flowers won’t last as long. In addition, the timing of shipment of the flowers needs to be correct so they reach customers at the peak of freshness.
Florists have been receiving massive shipments of flowers during the week prior to Valentine’s Day. Gearhart said the first items to be received are the greenery and those items that have a longer shelf life. Some flowers which don’t typically last as long will be received closer to the holiday.
Gearhart, unpacking an order of flowers as she spoke to The Journal Wednesday, said heating packs and Styrofoam were used to ensure the flowers did not freeze on their way to International Falls this week. Once inside the shop, many of the blooms were placed inside a refrigerator to maintain a healthy temperature.
Streiff warned those taking flowers to regulate heat in their car so the flowers won’t freeze.
Weekdays better for florists
Having Valentine’s Day fall within the typical workweek will help drive traffic at the shops, multiple florists noted. Having the holiday fall on a Sunday last year reduced the office-delivery traffic they would typically expect to see.
“It’s always nice to get flowers in front of someone,” Gearhart explained.
Kat Ruelle, Alli Kat Floral & Gifts, noted that the last Valentine’s Day had florists taking a hit due to the poor economy and the weekend holiday.
This year, changing the physical location of their shop across the city’s main street to inside the Chicago Laundromat has added to the stress and bustle of the week for Ruelle and her daughter Alli Holwell. They now have smaller space to work and are still learning to live in their new space.
But that won’t stop them from preparing flowers this Valentine’s Day, they said. They expected a full order of flowers Wednesday afternoon.
Trends in flowers
Red roses remain the staple for many Valentine’s Day sweethearts, as they are popularly known to be a symbol of love. But other flowers, and other colors of roses, entice those looking for something a little more unique and different.
Gearhart said they expect a certain number of customers to request red roses; but their cooler and nearly every conceivable inch of space in the shop was filled with a mixed bouquet of all varieties of flowers.
For example, Gearhart’s daughter Elizabeth was busy Wednesday cleaning buckets full of tulips and they were excited about the more subtle but full alstroemeria.
Streiff’s was no different. She said the majority of their customers choose the standard red roses, but they take orders for people asking for a wide variety of flowers. Their coolers and displays showed a range of red-and-white arrangements along with a few mixed bouquets of varied colors.
“The big thing is red roses,” Streiff said. But she noted that various other colors were popular among different recipients. “They figure the meaning behind them should be love also because that’s their favorite.”
She was busy making an arrangement of blue roses in a white vase, something that may not appeal to everyone, she admitted, but would be perfect for the right customer. She said they are also planning a few Hawaiian-inspired pieces.
Ruelle explained that her shop specializes in more outside-the-box pieces, including varied heights, unique containers and colorful pieces. And while they will do their share of red roses, Ruelle said they ordered a wide variety of flowers for customers to select a personalized arrangement.
She said this year the trend was for more romantic-looking arrangements, with hearts and other details that literally showed the love of the holiday.
A fun time for florists
For the florists, although it is both busy and stressful, they all agreed that the results of preparing the flowers was good for their business and the customers.
“It’s a fun day,” Gearhart said. “It’s good to make people happy, give them a smile, brighten their day.”
“We like it, it’s stressful for all of us. You’re putting in long hours and you’re thinking constantly of something different,” Streiff said. “But I think we all enjoy it. These girls (the flower arrangers) wouldn’t come in if they didn’t.”
Flowers play an important role — and not just on Feb. 14.
“Flowers bring nature and the botanical elements into our homes, something that man has done from time eternal and will continue to do in order to remain in sync with nature,” Ruelle said.
“Flowers are still a very important part of our lives,” she continued. “The ‘power of flowers’ will always inspire us.”
Rose colored glasses
The color of a flower with as many hues as the rose is bound to attract meaning in popular culture. While not everyone agrees, here are some popular sentiments attached to each color of rose.
Pink — admiration, joy, gratitude
Red — passionate love, deep emotions
White — purity, innocence
Yellow — joy, friendship and caring
Orange — passion and energy
Lavendar — love at first sight, enchantment
Green — best wishes, get well
Black — death, end of a relationship
