US: 46 percent of SAF members ‘optimistic’ about 2016 sales
Forty-six percent of respondents to the Society of American Florists’ Second Quarter Economic Outlook Survey said they are “optimistic” about sales expectations this year. About 42 percent of respondents classified business as “good.”
Two hundred twenty-nine SAF members from across three segments — growers, wholesalers and retailers — responded to the survey.
The positive results don’t erase the real challenges floral industry members face on a myriad of fronts, including the daily struggles of managing a small business and the work of surviving against stiff competition, along with worries about the economy, escalating costs, environmental factors such as the California drought, and the looming presidential election, which has generated uncertainty for business owners and consumers.
“The economy is improving, business is improving,” noted one bullish wholesaler in Missouri.
That optimism, however, wasn’t universal: “[The] election year, terrible choices, circus environment, all leads to uncertainty,” worried one California wholesaler. “We are in the beginning stages of a recession.”
Read more at safnow.org
