It's coming... it's getting closer every day....
*Rebecca pulls out hair*
ok, no one panic... it's not THAT bad.... but it's not that good either...
V-Day (that's a little shop talk for you) is the busiest single day of the florists year. It's the biggest, trickiest, fastest holiday, and no one looks forward to it.
It's big because of the peer pressure to SPEND MONEY!! The more you spend the more you love your Valentine. Or, so they say. Biggest spenders? High School Boys. Note, they are also the ones with the least cash and the shortest relationships.
It's tricky for two reasons.
#1 It's on a different day of the week every year. Middle of the week V-days are traditionally busier for the florist than weekends. If V-day falls on the weekend, the sweethearts are more likely to go away for the weekend, or plan a fun day together. More likely to spend money on a fancy dinner. If V-day is on say, a Tuesday or a Wednesday, guys are more likely to send flowers to their honey at work. They like to show off this way. All the girls at work will see the bouquet. Ladies are more likely to cook and do the candlelight dinner at home after the kids are in bed. No one takes time off work for V-day. This makes it tricky for the florist, because we never know for sure exactly how many flowers we will sell, what kind of arrangements will be popular this year, etc. No matter what the past years have been like, there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rules.
#2 Weather!!! We've had record snowfalls in Wisconsin this winter. We are PRAYING for good weather on Feb 14th!! A snow storm would mean huge losses. HUGE.
Then there are the "call-outs" some people call them "wire orders." This is when I have to call a flower shop in a different city or state to arrange and deliver the flowers. This is tough because, flower shops in bigger cities (almost every city is bigger than my city) are more expensive, which my customers don't like. They are also not as friendly, and they don't have any qualms about turning down orders. They just don't need the money that badly. It's not unusual for me to spend upwards of 30-45 minutes trying to place an order for a customer that needs to be delivered to their sweetheart in Chicago. Not to mention, these big city florists sell out of flowers a whole lot earlier in the game than we do. For instance I called a florist in Texas yesterday who informed me that she was no longer taking orders for Valentine's Day. There were 4 more days until the holiday!!!!
It's fast because it's one day. That's it. And then it's over, and all that's left to do is try to sell leftover pink and red flowers. Which no one wants to buy. Because, face it. No one likes those colors.
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