Preliminary information from an informal sample of the SAF Retail Council and Wholesale Council members indicates that Valentine's Day sales were either up, mostly in the single digits, or flat compared to a year ago. Many were comparing their results to the dismal sales they experienced during the 2007 holiday, when dreadful weather pummeled much of the country and beat down sales.

"Sales followed the weather," St. Louis wholesaler Steve Frye of Baisch & Skinner notes. "And where the weather was good, so were sales." As Scott Kremp of Kremp Florist in Willow Grove, Pa., acknowledges, "Good weather equals good holiday."

The holiday was not without its challenges. Florists noted sales lost to non-traditional vendors, especially low-end purchases. Chris Drummond, AAF, of Plaza Flowers, in Norristown, Pa., noted a decline in orders, but an increase in dollars. "I guess when customers want a high-end gift they are choosing the florists. For a $30 bouquet, they're shopping elsewhere."

As Ken Young, AAF,  of Phoenix Flower Shops in Scottsdale, Ariz., describes, "Competition was fierce in our market from the non-traditional florist segments... Most of the major supermarket chains set up temporary floral departments in their parking lots utilizing tents and semi trailers."

Some business owners, including Erlene LeBorgne, owner of Rosemont Floral in Portland, Maine, were thankful they had cut back on staffing and product, in response to the sluggish economy. Eric Levy of Hillcrest Garden, Inc., of Paramus, N. J., says the fact that many retailers waited until the last minute to see how orders were developing made for a stressful holiday. Those retailers had to scramble for roses in the final hours, says Levy, who sold a significant number of roses to retail shops on the last day.

Long hours of preparation paid off, according to Katy Miller, of Dillon Wholesale in Bloomsburg, Pa. "We worked very early and very diligently this year to pinpoint quantities...margin goals to hit," she says. Encouraging customers to pre-book their orders also helped.

Wholesaler Kevin Priest, AAF, of Cleveland Plant & Flower Company in Parma, Ohio, says his company maintained its pre-holiday credit policies for shops that were on COD during the holiday period — a strategy that may have cost some sales.

A couple of shops reported declines in incoming wire orders, despite significant marketing by the wire services. Online orders were up by double digits for some, including David Mitchell of Mitchell's Orland Park & Frankfort Flower Shop in Orland Park, Ill. Mitchell notes that more retail customers were "shopping around on the Web" to find more competitive prices.

With few exceptions, product quality was good, but availability was somewhat sketchy. Kurt Schroeder, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, of Delaware Valley Floral Group in Sewell, N.J., noted delays of three to five days in receiving product. Tina Rojahn Elsafy of wholesaler Rojahn and Malaney in Milwaukee stated via e-mail, "Our VD was VERY tough," noting that roses from South America didn't arrive at her business until Tuesday, Feb. 12 at lunchtime. "Not good," she said.

"Product was definitely late, late and later ...some never arrived," reported Lou Lynne Moss, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, of The Flower Shoppe in Pratt, Kan. But she ordered more red roses than last year and got by nonetheless, reporting sales gains among the best so far. Mitchell, on the other hand, says product availability was "very good," despite running out of roses on Feb. 13 and ordering loads more to fill orders.

Florida retailer Tina Stoecker, AIFD, PFCI, of Design of the Times Florist in Melbourne, Fla., noted how the product she received improved dramatically as the holiday progressed, describing it as "beautiful." Quality was "excellent, probably the best ever," according to Kremp, and for Schroeder the holiday was "... the smoothest in many recent years."

What makes a florist happy on Valentine's Day? "Sold our last rose at 6:00 p.m. Yeah!!," said a gleeful David Boulton, AAF, of Flowers by George in Arlington, Wash. Wholesaler Frye put it this way: "The industry needed a good holiday, and this bodes well for the spring." Miller sums it up: "A successful Valentine's Day feels very good."

Tell us about your Valentine's Day experience — SAF's online survey of retailers hits e-mail inboxes on Friday. If you are a retailer who does not receive our survey and would like to, send your e-mail address to surveys@safnow.org. Results of the survey will be appearing later in SAF publications and on the Web site.

--Ira Silvergleit
isilvergleit@safnow.org