Dealing with hordes of last-minute shoppers doesn’t scream “Sunday Fun Day” for most of us — but it’s a worthwhile sacrifice to help ensure a successful Valentine’s Day 2021, as well as potential business down the road.
While many flower shops traditionally close on Sundays, the holiday’s timing this year is a good reason to make an exception, given consumers’ shopping habits.
“The shop I own is 60 percent cash and carry, and no one wants flowers on February 13,” said Lori Kunian, CFD, of Affairs to Remember in Melrose, Massachusetts. “The guys who wait are always the ones who forget that it is Sunday, and the grocery store will have all the flowers they want. It only takes not being there for them once to lose them forever.”
Sales expert Tim Huckabee, FSC, president and founder of FloralStrategies, former Floral Management columnist and a frequent speaker at Society of American Florists’ events, agreed, describing the decision to operate on Sunday, Feb. 14, as a “no-brainer.”
“Florists complain about all the other companies selling Valentine flowers and capturing their business, so why on the one day of the year when customers are attracted to your shop like a moth to a flame would you not be open?” he said. “Respectfully putting aside any religious reasons for not trading on that day, if you opt to close you are literally driving your current —and prospective — customers into the hands of the competition.”
Echoing Kunian, he cautioned that florists unavailable to shoppers on February 14 likely won’t ever get a second chance with these procrastinators, even if they’re previous customers. “Consumers are fickle and have short memories,” he said. “They will likely become loyal to the new shop that helped them out with their last-minute holiday purchase.”
His advice if you don’t have the energy, staff or inclination for a marathon Sunday? “Make any modifications that you need — shorten your hours, limit your business to pick-up only, etc. Just make sure your flowers are available to your customers.”
In 2017, Rachel Martin, owner of Ballard Blossom in Seattle, shared in Floral Management’s Viewpoint column why opening on another Sunday holiday (Mother’s Day) made a huge difference in her business. When she first started this practice, around 2002, she had about 50 deliveries on actual Mother’s Day; by 2017, she had 350 deliveries that Sunday, compared to 300-plus on Friday and 400 on Saturday. “If we hadn’t been opened on Sunday, we would have had to spread those 350 orders over our already packed Friday and Saturday – or, even worse, we might have turned customers away and pushed them straight into our competitors’ arms,” she said. Plus, she said, Amazon’s business model has given consumers’ sky-high expectations that they can buy items online and, within a few hours, have those goods on their doorstep, no questions asked. “I can’t imagine telling customers we’re closed ,” she said. “Frankly, I think they’d be insulted.”
Katie Vincent is the senior contributing writer and editor for the Society of American Florists.
