The Wednesday in the last full week of April is known as Administrative Professionals Day. A good day for flower sales! Or not?
According to several large retailers, "it is nothing like it used to be," says Joost Bongaerts of Florabundance, a US flower wholesaler, who spoke to several of them.
Joost Bongaerts and Yvette Groskamp who is not in the flower business but the target group of the ThatFlowerFeeling campaign.
"The main reason, according to some of our retail customers, is the wire services stopped promoting Administrative Professional Day or Admin Week when covid came. In turn, many offices were closed, and it has not come back."
At Florabundance, they have seen a modest uptick in flower sales over the last weeks, and some may be due to Administrative Assistance Week.
Easter, however, is a larger holiday for retailers, and many saw better sales this year compared to the pre-covid year 2019, but less when compared to 2022.
"Now, wedding events are in full swing, and high school proms are starting. Mother's Day (May 14) is here soon, resulting in a large increase in demand for flowers."
Promoting flowers for everyday use
So Admin Week is nothing like it used to be, but is that a bad thing? The Americans used to be very holiday minded, but since covid, it seems that flowers are being bought more for everyday and weekly use.
In order to promote the everyday use of flowers, ThatFlowerFeeling was launched in January 2021. And Bongaerts is promoting and supporting the industry in several ways as a volunteer; he is a Director for the California Flower Growers and Shippers (Calflowers) and Marketing Chair for ThatFlowerFeeling Foundation. The campaign "Self Care Made Easy" is continuing, and funds are being raised for the next campaign, and growers, breeders, transportation companies, wholesalers, retailers, and supermarkets are encouraged to participate in increasing floral consumption in the US.
For more information
Florabundance
Joost Bongaerts
Email: joost@florabundance.com
https://www.florabundance.com/