Florists gear up for Valentine’s rush

Extra drivers, designers, and phone hands are essential to shop owners to handle the surge of orders. Small-town florists like Diane O’Brien of Ribbons & Roses in downtown Brentwood must hire five to 10 seasonal workers to keep up. They must also place wholesale rose orders 4-6 weeks in advance.

Valentine’s Day strains the global flower market, and florists say rose prices soar as much as 100%-150%. For O’Brien, it is impractical to raise her costs accordingly. Due to seasonal increases in labor costs and market prices, florists can hope to only break even when the dust has settled. O’Brien explains the holiday is more about love for her customer base than profit.

“We literally will do two months’ worth of work in one week, so it’s relentless, it’s very difficult. We’re scrambling as hard as we can, we’re peeling through product,” O’Brien said. “Valentine’s Day for our small retail people is more a labor of love because you still have to service your clientele, but if you try and charge them what you should be charging them in order to cover your normal mark, you would lose those customers…There’s not this big juicy profit margin that everyone thinks we’re making.”

Eduardo Plascencia, co-owner of Flower’s By Gerry and Brentwood Florist, sources roses from South America. The majority of his product is flown into Miami and driven across the country to wholesalers in California. Through 40 years of experience in the industry, Plascencia has learned to prepare for problems in transit.

“The biggest challenge is there’s always a risk when you order your product, that it’s not going to deliver. The other issue that we have right now is the storms in Texas. Issues with weather can affect transportation, the product, and the price,” Plascencia said “The challenge is I want my product to be 100% fresh so I can deliver that to my customers.”

Despite risks, Plascencia expects a busy Valentine’s Day. Based on last year’s sales, his businesses plan to deliver roughly 5,000 roses to East County residents. To complete 300-420 deliveries in one day, Plascencia said he will hire six to eight seasonal employees.

When customers are trying to find a local florist, and they Google ‘florists near me’, they discover what the industry calls ‘order gatherers’ in e-commerce..

Order gatherers collect orders through prioritized advertising on search engines, and funnel them through shops nearby. They are known for charging inordinate fees, misrepresenting how bouquets will arrive with doctored photos.

Steve Harland, owner of Good Scents Florist in Oakley, says shops like his offer better value than order-gathering companies, and better quality than grocery stores.

“Online all they do is take your money,” Harland said. “You’re not getting your value, you’re not getting your money’s worth, you’re getting a part of it…you can’t get any fresher than our stuff. In a grocery store that stuff might be in there for three weeks because they’re not going to throw it away, it’s going to be there till it rots. That’s why they can sell their stuff for $12.99, you’re getting stuff that florists don’t want.”

Harland also notes that real florists provide a more personal experience.

“We know our customers’ names, they know our names, we know what they like, I love it. Small towns are the best…unlike Amazon or any of these online orderers where you don’t know who they are,” Harland said.