Floral professionals faced plenty of challenges last week, with a Friday Valentine’s Day on a long weekend. According to feedback from national companies and Society of American Florists volunteer leaders, however, the holiday turned out to be quite strong.
“This holiday was a total doozy,” said SAF Next-Gen Task Force Member Nicole Palazzo of City Line Florist in Trumbull, Connecticut. “We really expected to be slightly down, or at least flat, considering the holiday fell on a Friday.” Plus, she added, the shop experienced an “outrageously” good Valentine’s Day in 2019. “We thought there was no way we could top last year,” she said.
In fact, the shop ended Valentine’s Week with sales 15.5 percent higher than 2019 returns — and 70 percent higher than results from 2014 (the last time Valentine’s Day fell on a Friday). “Our average orders increased to $85,” Palazzo added. “It’s amazing to see how much we’ve grown.”
SAF Wholesalers Council Member Lenny Walker of Kennicott Brothers in Chicago said he’s heard similar stories from customers about surprisingly positive returns.
Read more at the Society of American Florists (Mary Westbrook)
