Tips for consumers buying flowers on Mothers Day: Like the Post Office, Your Local Florist Always Delivers
Blaine, Minnesota, Tuesday May 8: Mother’s Day is coming up—which means all of the florists in town are bleary eyed and in need of a serious caffeine fix. That’s because, for the week leading up to the holiday, these artistic retailers have been preparing for hundreds of orders destined for deliveries throughout the area.
Mary Lou Box, Owner of The Flower Shoppe (Blaine), explains: “We start preparing months in advance, anticipating what the popular styles and trends will be. Depending on how busy we expect to be, we may place orders for flowers several months in advance. And as we get closer to the holiday, it gets more and more hectic. After all, we’re dealing with fresh flowers, which need special care and handling to make sure they will last as long as possible for our customers. So we give lots of consideration to doing as much early prep work as we can before we start creating our fresh flower designs.”
Early Efforts Help Ease the Pain
How do florists manage to create so many arrangements for delivery at the same time? They start by preparing the containers before the fresh flowers have even arrived. Most florists will design a menu of offerings to allow their customers to choose a style that best fits their loved one’s personal tastes. The florist then orders containers, greenery and any necessary accessories.
The week before the holiday, the florist begins prepping the containers, which may mean adding only the green foliage to hundreds of vases and containers. (The greenery in an arrangement has a much longer vase life than cut flowers.)
The foliage arrives either dry, in cardboard boxes, or in wet packs (water+preservative-filled containers carefully shipped upright). If the greens arrive dry, then the florist prepares them by trimming the bottoms of every stem, placing them in large buckets of preservative solution and sometimes taking additional steps for certain varieties that require extra handling (such as dipping into specialty solutions).
Once the stems of foliage has been processed, then the florist can begin “greening” the vases. That means the florist adds the greenery to each container without adding any flowers. A florist can prepare dozens and dozens of vases in this manner, which allows him to wait until the last minute to add the fresh flowers that will ultimately be the factor that wows the recipient.
“Foliage can last up to a month or more—much longer than many of the fresh flowers,” Box says. “By adding it to the vases ahead of time, we can wait until the last minute for the cut flowers to be delivered and added so they are as fresh as possible.”
So Many Flowers, So Little Space
Most consumers who have visited a florist shop have likely seen the small spaces from which these retailers work. How on earth, then, do they manage to create and store so many arrangements for high-volume holidays?
With a “little” help, of course—though “little” is a relative term. Many florists rent refrigerated semitrucks that they park behind their shops and in which they can place their flowers to maintain their freshness. Some florists have gone so far as to turn their garages into cooling spaces, adding equipment to pump in refrigerated air to keep the area at the proper temperature.
Sometimes, if space is at a premium, the florists will even lower the thermostat in their shops to keep the flowers at the proper temperature.
“Maintaining a cold chain is important in ensuring the longest vase life for the flowers,” Box explains. “So we take special care to make sure the flowers are delivered to us by a company that specializes in maintaining the proper temperatures from the moment the flowers are cut in the flower fields to the moment they are delivered to our shop.
”Putting on an extra sweater or wearing some gloves is worth it to make sure the flowers stay as fresh as possible.”
Once the floral arrangements are designed, the florists then place them in their refrigerated storage areas before finally delivering them to the customer.
A Personal Touch—at a No-Extra-Fee Price
While florists do offer a selection of predesigned floral creations, that’s not to say that they aren’t pleased to work with customers to create personalized designs specifically aimed at a loved one’s individual sense of style with her favorite flowers.
“We want our customers to get that personal touch that only a local florist can offer,” Box says. “To do that, though, we simply need for our customers to call us early—at least several weeks at minimum before the holiday—so that we can make sure we order and have the special flowers that they want us to include in their arrangement.”
That type of personalized service is what sets a local florist apart from a national company, Box adds. “When you call my shop directly to discuss your bouquet, you will talk to me or one of the members of my staff who work directly with me. We can discuss your order with you, ask questions and find out exactly what you want.”
When consumers order from a national website or 800-number, on the other hand, they will be sending their order to a centralized calling center in another city with customer-service representatives who aren’t trained in flower varieties or design.
Those aspects hinder these conglomerates’ ability to provide proper customer service, but the biggest complaint most customers have after using one of these firms is cost, Box points out. “When you order from a national company,” Box explains, “you have to pay additional service fees. You could save that money simply by calling a florist directly to order your flowers.”
The Intangibles Only a Local Florist Can Deliver
One of the ways in which local florists endear themselves to regular customers is their knowledge of local traditions and customs. Local florists are familiar with what’s popular and expected in their areas.
“Sometimes, we’ll get an out-of-town order to deliver a flower arrangement to a loved one in our area, and being able to offer the customer advice on what is customary can mean a lot to the recipient,” says Box. For memorial services, in particular, knowing the area’s traditions is important. “In some parts of the country, sympathy wreaths are the norm, while in others, people expect to see potted plants or tall arrangements with a lot of lilies or gladiolus. We take extra care to make sure we can offer the appropriate advice to whoever is ordering an arrangement from us.”
Having that “insider knowledge” allows the delivered piece to meet each customers’ expectations. “We really love being able to give our customers the perfect flowers in the perfect design,” Box adds.
Other benefits to using your local florist is that he or she knows what flowers are freshest and in greatest abundance, which can reduce costs and enhance the vase life of the flowers. Plus, talking to the florist directly can reassure the customer that an order will definitely be delivered when promised.
“Large companies that take orders can’t promise delivery because they aren’t the ones creating the arrangement and driving it to the recipient. Only a real florist can do that,” Box points out. “That also means that if the customer has a problem, they know exactly who to call to resolve it. Our customers talk to me, the actual owner of the shop, person-to-person,” Box adds. “What national company can offer that kind of service?
“That’s a benefit you can’t put a price on!”
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TO LEARN MORE AND SEE A REAL FLORIST IN ACTION PREPARING FOR THE HOLIDAY, visit GreenFingersInc.com, 8654 Central Avenue, Blaine, MN 55434. Mary Lou Box will be happy to answer questions, be interviewed and provide additional information for upcoming feature or news articles. Please call with any requests: 763-784-2532.
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