2/14/08
The nation says it with flowers for Valentine’s Day
By Jerriod Grizzle

JERRIOD GRIZZLE/Manning Times

Garland Nettles, an employee of Flowers De Linda looks over a vase of pink roses in preparation for Valentine’s Day on Thursday. Valentine’s Day is the number one holiday for florists with a national average of $16.9 billion spent on the holiday annually.

Let’s take it from a florist’s perspective this Valentine’s Day. While most people are running around planning dinner and practicing proposals for this “day of love,” florists around the county have geared up and are ready to go, some staying at their shop until three in the morning.

“Valentines is the biggest day for flowers behind Mother’s Day and Christmas,” said Linda Mills, owner of Flowers De Linda.

Mills said she orders up to 1,300 more roses for Valentine’s and said that most of them if not all will sell. “No one can understand unless you are in the industry.”

She said that the two to three days before the big day, she could equate her shop being bombarded with orders like a bus wreck in the emergency room.

According to the National Retail Federation’s annual Valentine’s Day consumer survey, last year the average romantic spent over $119. With an estimated $16.9 billion pumped into the U.S. economy according to the Society of American Florists, many businesses make up to 40 percent of their annual sales volume from the Valentines holiday.

In 2007, alone, an estimated 214 million roses were grown for the 58 percent of men who plan to spend money on flowers.

Ellen Ardis, owner of Ginger’s Flowers and Gifts said she has her own unique name that she said sums up her Valentine’s work schedule.

“It’s the holiday from Hell!” she said.

Ardis said that she starts cleaning and prepping her flowers and baskets a week in advance.

“My flowers come, dry packed and I hydrate them, then we have to cut the ribbons for the balloons, get the candy wrapped and get all the bears done in time,” she said. “On years past we have stayed as late as 3 a.m. only to be back in the shop at 6 a.m.”

According to Ardis most of her orders come in only two to three days ahead of time.

Both Ardis and Mills said that on average, they hire more people around this time of year.

“We usually have three but on Valentine’s Day and the days before we could have up to 20,” said Mills.
Both said that it is important to keep in mind the busy schedules of both the people buying flowers and the people who sell them.

“No one should judge a florist on that one day. It is hard to spend the amount of time with a customer like we want,” said Mills.

She suggests maybe buying roses or flowers one day in advance and giving presents on the day before Valentine’s Day just to show how much one cares.

There is a growing trend for men to get a Valentine’s Day gift as well as women and many shops nationally are developing gifts for men just for Valentine’s Day.

To appeal to a younger audience some shops are creating snack food boxes.

“It is a great idea for men,” said Mills. “What do men love most? Junk food!”